One year after the start of the government's offensive against Shein, small packages sent to France are down sharply

A year after the Shein scandal, the government wants to show that its response is bearing fruit. At the end of October 2025, the discovery of child-like sex dolls and weapons for sale on the Chinese platform caused an outcry. “We reacted immediately by striking hard,” recalled Serge Papin, Minister of Commerce, on Wednesday during a press briefing organized with David Amiel, Minister of Action and Public Accounts.

The executive then initiated proceedings to suspend the e-commerce site in France, while the authorities also increased controls targeting Temu and AliExpress. In November 2025, an inspection of 200,000 Shein packages at Roissy airport revealed that many items did not comply with regulations - eight out of ten, according to an initial assessment by Bercy, 25% (excluding textiles) according to customs. However, the courts refused to block the platform in France, at first instance and then on appeal.

Despite this setback, the government claims to have obtained initial results thanks to its actions. According to Médiamétrie data published by the Federation of e-commerce and distance selling (Fevad), monthly traffic to Shein fell by 42.3% in July year-on-year. It’s -36.4% for Temu and -10.4% for AliExpress. Serge Papin also highlighted a drop in sales of “25% in value in September” for these platforms. David Amiel reported a reduction “of 48% in the VAT amounts declared to the European single window between June and August”. A decline which, according to the government, reflects a clear reduction in purchases and therefore in the number of small packages sent to France, and no longer just “a shift in logistics flows”.

To fight against competition deemed unfair by these platforms, the executive first acted on imports. In 2024, 775 million low-value items entered France, compared to 4.6 billion in the European Union, according to figures recalled by David Amiel. After a first French tax introduced last March, a flat-rate European customs duty of three euros per category of items came into force on July 1 for shipments of less than 150 euros from third countries, which replaced the national tricolor tax.

“If we had to remember one thing from the past months, it is that France took the lead and Europe took over,” summarized David Amiel. The next deadline is November 1, with the addition of a European fee of two euros per category of articles, bringing the total levy to five euros. At the same time, customs controls have been strengthened. Since March 23, agents have had expanded powers to intervene after goods enter the territory, particularly during their transport.

The executive now intends to strengthen the responsibility of online commerce giants. “Our merchants respect the rules, why should the platforms escape them?” asked Serge Papin, denouncing a system in which they “receive sales but shirk their responsibilities”. The minister will go to Brussels next week to defend the “Product Act” in order to establish new verification obligations, accompanied by the possibility of suspension in the event of repeated breaches.