Six billion parcels reached EU customs offices in 2025, 90 percent of them from China. A new tax is intended to stem this flood and at the same time cover control costs. The most important answers to this.
As of today, millions of products ordered online and imported into the EU will be charged two euros more. A corresponding new processing fee now applies to imports from third countries such as China or the USA. This is intended to reduce the flood of cheap packages and cover additional costs - similar to the customs duties that have been due on cheap shipments of goods from those countries since July. Who has to pay the new fee and what does it mean for consumers?
When is the fee due?
The unlimited processing fee is due for items that are purchased in online shops outside the EU and sent to consumers in the international community - i.e. for shipments from Asia, America or even Switzerland. It is collected per so-called item of goods. A product item roughly describes a product group - such as screws, shoes or pens.
What does this mean for consumers?
Online retailers or importers are responsible for paying the fee. Companies such as Shein, Temu or AliExpress, which produce large quantities of cheap goods and ship them to Europe, are particularly likely to be affected. End consumers in Europe are therefore not directly affected by the new fee. However, it is to be expected that some of the fee will be passed on to consumers through higher product prices, says Stephan Tromp from the German Trade Association (HDE).
The general manager of the Federal Association of E-Commerce and Mail Order Germany (Bevh), Alien Mulyk, expects surcharges to be more likely for low-price products with particularly low profit margins.
Wasn't there already an additional fee for packages?
Regardless of the new parcel fee, a flat-rate duty of three euros per product group has been due since July for goods from non-EU countries starting from the first euro. Before that, parcels with a value of up to 150 euros could be imported into the international community duty-free. If a package contains a T-shirt, a watch and a whisk worth up to 150 euros, the seller or importer will now have to pay a customs fee of nine euros.
If you take the processing fee and the flat-rate customs rates together, the import costs per small shipment increase noticeably, says Mulyk. It is unlikely that the platforms will cross-finance these extra costs themselves in the long term, given the already low margins. The revenue should be used to modernize the inadequate market surveillance, emphasizes Mulyk.
According to consumer advice centers, initial customer data indicates that online marketplaces generally deal very differently with the flat-rate tariff. In some cases, retailers even demanded more than three euros per product category, "which would practically be an additional profit for the company," says trade expert Ann-Katrin Hamacher from the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations. “Consumers should therefore carefully check the price list when purchasing online and compare prices.”
Why is the parcel fee introduced?
The EU wants to take action against the flood of cheap packages, which causes costs and effort. According to the EU states, in 2025 European customs offices processed around six billion parcels from online retailers. 90 percent of them came to the international community from China. This corresponds to more than 16 million small parcels reaching the EU every day. The tax is intended to cover the increasing costs that arise from viewing and checking the growing number of small shipments.
Green MEP Anna Cavazzini says the fee is a measure to reduce the number of individual packages. "On the other hand, it finances the additional costs of customs controls so that the internal market remains free of exploding cell phone batteries or toxic children's toys."
Many unsafe products that ended up on the market in Europe caused costs "for which the general public often has to pay," explains trade expert Hamacher. At the same time, the expert warns that a fee neither replaces effective liability nor the obligation of online platforms to offer safe and legally compliant products.
Will the measure work?
Whether and how the new fee will affect parcel volumes remains to be seen. But the three-euro tariff seems to have consequences. According to the EU Commission, there was an average decline in parcels of more than 60 percent in the EU for the months of July, August and September. However, that still corresponds to a volume of five million shipments per day. "This remains a significant number of parcels and the burden on our customs authorities therefore remains very high," said a Commission official.
Furthermore, this only describes the current situation. "However, we are aware that business models continue to change and evolve." It would be premature to draw any final conclusions from this.
