The European Union’s resolution to finish its customs obligation exemption for low-value imports is already having a measurable impression on cross-border e-commerce. Since July 1, 2026, items in consignments valued at as much as 150 euro have been topic to a non permanent 3 euro customs obligation. The cost is calculated in line with the tariff classes of the products in every consignment, reasonably than being utilized as a flat price to each parcel. The measure marks a big change for platforms that constructed their enterprise fashions round delivery giant volumes of low-priced items on to European shoppers.
Early figures recommend that the consequences are substantial. In Germany, mixed gross sales by Shein, Temu, and AliExpress fell by 35.5 % yr on yr within the third quarter of 2026, to 566 million euro. Their mixed share of the German on-line retail market additionally declined, from 5.3 % within the second quarter to three.1 % within the third, in line with the German E-Commerce and Distance Promoting Commerce Affiliation (BEVH). At Liège Airport, a serious European hub for e-commerce freight, the quantity of small parcels fell by 42 % after the brand new obligation took impact. But the airport dealt with nearly the identical complete cargo tonnage within the third quarter because it had a yr earlier, suggesting that the decline in small-parcel site visitors has not translated right into a comparable fall in general freight exercise.
These figures level to a big disruption of the low-value parcel mannequin, though they don’t but set up how a lot of the misplaced enterprise has shifted to European retailers or different types of distribution. These adjustments matter past the instant efficiency of particular person platforms. Chinese language e-commerce corporations have develop into an more and more seen a part of the industrial relationship between China and Europe, connecting Chinese language suppliers with European shoppers by digital marketplaces and cross-border logistics networks. Because the EU adjustments the circumstances beneath which these platforms function, it’s also altering how Chinese language companies can entry the European market.
The query, then, shouldn’t be merely whether or not the brand new guidelines will curb the inflow of low-value imports. It’s whether or not Europe can tackle reliable considerations over customs enforcement, product security, and honest competitors with out unnecessarily proscribing client alternative or the industrial connections which have developed between the 2 markets.
A New Channel in China-EU Commerce
China-EU commerce has lengthy been formed by the trade of manufactured items, disputes over market entry, and competitors between their industries. The expansion of platforms comparable to AliExpress, Temu, and Shein has introduced a special sort of enterprise relationship into view. Chinese language producers and sellers can now attain European shoppers straight by on-line marketplaces, with much less reliance on the importers, distributors, and retail chains that historically related producers to abroad markets. For smaller companies particularly, these platforms provide a comparatively accessible path to worldwide clients. Their attraction to shoppers rests largely on low costs and a big selection of merchandise.
This progress is going down inside an already substantial buying and selling relationship. In 2025, EU-China commerce in items and companies exceeded 880 billion euro. The EU imported 571.3 billion euro in items from China and exported 199.5 billion euro, leaving a items commerce deficit of greater than 370 billion euro. Commerce in companies was extra balanced, with EU exports to China reaching 67 billion euro and imports standing at 45.8 billion euro. Cross-border e-commerce stays a comparatively small a part of this general commerce, however it’s altering how some Chinese language companies enter the European market and the way European shoppers purchase from them.
Neither is this commerce confined to parcels despatched straight from China. An OECD examine of on-line marketplaces in Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania described how AliExpress has labored with Cainiao, Alibaba’s logistics arm, to determine a ten,000-square-metre fulfilment heart close to Łódź, permitting sellers to dispatch orders from Poland. AliExpress additionally opened its market to Polish sellers in 2024. Temu has adopted an analogous path in increasing the function of native companies: its Native Vendor Program was opened to sellers within the Baltic states in October 2025, enabling them to promote by the platform and fulfil orders in their very own markets.
These developments present that Chinese language platforms are usually not solely bringing Chinese language merchandise to European shoppers; they’re additionally offering channels by which European sellers can attain clients, whereas counting on native logistics and fulfilment companies. This doesn’t take away the aggressive tensions with European retailers. It does, nonetheless, make the financial relationship tougher to explain merely as Chinese language exports competing with European merchandise. The platforms have gotten a part of the industrial infrastructure by which companies on either side attain shoppers.
Regulation Past the Border
The growth of Chinese language e-commerce has introduced platform governance into the EU’s commerce debate. Regulators are now not involved solely with whether or not imported items meet European requirements. They’re additionally analyzing how marketplaces display screen sellers, promote merchandise, and deal with client complaints.
The EU’s Digital Providers Act (DSA) applies to platforms serving customers within the EU, no matter the place they’re primarily based. In Could 2026, the European Fee fined Temu 200 million euro for failing to correctly assess the dangers of unlawful merchandise on its market. Its investigation included thriller purchasing checks that discovered security issues with chosen chargers and kids’s toys. In July, AliExpress was fined 550 million euro for failures to evaluate and mitigate dangers referring to unlawful, unsafe, and counterfeit merchandise. Individually, the European Client Group (BEUC) printed checks by client teams in a number of international locations that recognized security issues in merchandise bought on Temu, together with toys, cosmetics, and electrical items.
These findings shouldn’t be taken to imply that every one merchandise offered on Chinese language platforms are unsafe. They do present why regulators are putting higher accountability on marketplaces, reasonably than treating them merely as intermediaries. Client safety authorities have additionally challenged Temu’s and Shein’s use of deceptive reductions, pressure-selling ways, and insufficient info on returns and refunds. For Chinese language platforms, compliance with European guidelines is more and more a situation of sustaining entry to the market.
Customs Reform and Altering Enterprise Fashions
Customs enforcement is one other supply of stress. The European Fee recorded roughly 5.88 billion low-value imported objects in 2025. These consignments accounted for 97.9 % of imported objects however solely 2.1 % of complete import worth, with a median worth of 8.82 euro. China accounted for 93 % of this commerce by quantity and 78 % by worth. The figures cowl the broader low-value import market, not particular person platforms, however they illustrate the dimensions of the problem dealing with customs authorities.
The EU has responded by eradicating the 150 euro customs obligation exemption and introducing the non permanent 3 euro obligation from July 2026. A separate 2 euro dealing with price, additionally calculated by product class, took impact on November 1. Each measures apply to related imports from outdoors the EU, not particularly to China. However, China’s dominant share of low-value imports implies that Chinese language platforms and sellers are significantly uncovered.
The longer-term aggressive results are much less clear. Chinese language platforms are already adjusting their enterprise fashions in response to the brand new prices. Reuters reported in October 2026 that AliExpress was increasing native warehousing and Shein was rising warehouse capability in Poland, whereas Temu had supplied some clients reductions to offset the extra prices. These strikes construct on earlier efforts to determine an area presence. As talked about above, AliExpress operates a fulfilment heart close to Łódź in cooperation with Cainiao, whereas Temu’s Native Vendor Program permits companies within the Baltic states to promote and fulfil orders regionally. Such preparations imply that the platforms’ European presence more and more entails native companies and logistics, not simply imports from China.
But established European platforms stay robust. In Poland, Allegro accounted for 64 % of site visitors to common on-line marketplaces in 2025, in contrast with 11 % for Temu and eight % for AliExpress. These figures measure engaged web site site visitors, not gross sales, however illustrate the continued energy of native rivals.
Client Demand and the Way forward for China-EU Digital Commerce
European shoppers are an necessary a part of this story. The European Central Financial institution’s April 2026 Client Expectations Survey discovered that greater than half of euro-area respondents had used Chinese language e-commerce platforms, whereas one in 5 shopped on them no less than as soon as a month. Low costs and product selection have been the principle sights. Nearly two-thirds of orders have been value not more than 25 euro. Use was significantly widespread in Greece, Portugal and Spain, however much less widespread in Germany and France. But considerations over product high quality, security and environmental impression stay, elevating questions on methods to maintain client confidence as this market grows.
These developments level to a broader shift in China-EU financial relations. Chinese language e-commerce platforms are now not merely channels for exporting items to Europe; they more and more join Chinese language suppliers with European shoppers, retailers and logistics suppliers. This creates industrial alternatives, but additionally new challenges for market governance.
For the EU, the duty is to implement widespread requirements with out discriminating on the premise of enterprise origin. For China, it’s to make sure that its corporations can compete beneath clear and predictable guidelines. The China-EU Commerce and Funding Session mechanism may provide a channel for addressing these points. Though e-commerce shouldn’t be a devoted workstream, discussions on commerce and funding may present scope for dialogue on sensible issues comparable to product traceability, vendor verification and customs info. Finally, the problem shouldn’t be merely methods to regulate Chinese language platforms, however methods to protect an open and honest market as cross-border industrial networks develop into more and more built-in.