European states have given the green light to tariffs even on small packages, which are currently exempt from customs duties. However, the intention is to tighten the flood of packages arriving mostly from Chinese e-commerce as soon as possible: already from 2026 in the ambitions of the EU Council, and not just from 2028 as the officially approved reform would like.
Brussels (ANSA) – European states have given the green light to tariffs on mini packages, which are currently exempt from customs duties. The intention, however, is to tighten the flood of packages arriving mostly from Chinese e-commerce as soon as possible: already by 2026 in the ambitions of the EU Council, and not just by 2028 as the officially approved reform would like.
Thus, the Minister of Economy Giancarlo Giorgetti expressed his “satisfaction”: it is “a phenomenon that is destroying retail trade,” he pointed out in Brussels. It is a measure in line with the “discussion on unfair competition” and we have “strongly supported” an advance of the new tariffs. It is “a fundamental step to better manage the increase in small packages, particularly coming from China,” emphasized the President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
In detail, in Brussels, the EU Council Ecofin has abolished the exemption from customs duties for packages entering the Union worth less than 150 euros. The regulation has been approved, but it should only come into effect in 2028 with the overall reform of the customs framework, which will also introduce a central platform for managing imports, aimed at strengthening controls. The idea now is to work on a transitional solution.
“The withdrawal of the exemption in 2028 would be too late,” explained the Danish Minister Stephanie Lose, who is currently holding the presidency of the EU Council. It is necessary to “do something sooner, because the problem of low-value packages is enormous.” The idea is to arrive at the December Ecofin with a first update. As for the figures involved, only in 2024 “4.6 billion items under 150 euros were imported, 91% of which came from China,” reported the EU Commissioner for Economy Valdis Dombrovskis (November 13).
