The European Union announced Tuesday that it was preparing to impose a 2 euro ($2.25) flat fee on the billions of low-value packages coming outside the bloc, the great majority from China.
Trade chief Maros Sefcovic told the European Parliament that e-commerce platforms would be expected to pay the levy per parcel, which aims to help the EU tackle the challenges from the massive influx of inexpensive items.
The fee would remove the customs-free status of packages worth less than 150 euros that are imported directly to consumers, often via platforms like Chinese-founded Temu and Shein.
Parcels sent directly to warehouses where they are stored in the EU would face a lower fee of 50 cents, Sefcovic said.
Last year, 4.6 billion such small packages entered the EU – more than 145 per second – with 91% originating in China. The EU expects the numbers to rise.
Platforms, including Shein and Temu, are suspected by Brussels of not doing enough to prevent the sale of products that do not meet European standards.
The EU also fears that many of the products imported into the 27-country bloc are unsafe, counterfeit and potentially even dangerous to consumers.
Sefcovic said the figure represented a "completely new challenge to the control, to the safety, to making sure that the standards are properly checked of the products which are shipped to the EU."
European retailers say they face unfair competition from overseas platforms, which they claim do not often comply with the EU's stringent rules on products.
Sefcovic noted the "huge" workload for customs officials, adding: "Therefore, I wouldn't look at the handling fee as a tax, simply the fee to compensate the cost."
Brussels also hopes part of the revenues from the fee will go towards the EU budget.
Paris is especially concerned about the issue: around 800 million such packages were shipped to France alone last year.
Last month, France said it wanted to start charging non-EU online sellers a handling fee per package until 2028, when the EU is expected to phase out the customs-free status.
Shein and Temu did not immediately respond to Agence France-Presse (AFP) requests for comment.
The United States ended tariff exemptions earlier this month for goods shipped from China worth less than $800, which are to face a levy of 54%.
