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Let’s tax packages coming from TemuShein and AliExpress! For months, calls to further regulate online platformse-commerce Chinese ones continue to be launched. After Europe, France and Germany, it was Joe Biden who, on Friday September 13, proposed tackling the millions of packages that enter the United States each year without going through customs. In the country, any package whose value does not exceed 800 dollars escapes taxes: a loophole into which e-commerce sites which offer online clothing and accessories at low prices made in China have fallen.
The observation is identical on the Old Continent: Brussels is preparing, like Washington, to tax more these platforms which sell very cheap products. Last July, the Financial Times explained that the European executive wanted to impose customs duties on packages coming from Chinese online platforms. It should remove the current threshold of 150 euros, below which orders escape any customs duties in Europe, added our British colleagues.
These measures are in fact part of a major reform of customs law initiated last year in the European Union.
In May 2023, several draft European regulations were published to this effect:
A customs system not adapted to current e-commerce
The reason for this vast project? OUR ” customs model is (no longer) suitable for electronic commerce”, Brussels explained last year. When creating this system, “ the goods were introduced (into Europe) in large quantities by freight transport”. This explains why initially, the European legislator had chosen to exempt low-value goods from customs duties, so as not to overburden the work of customs officers.
But since 1983, the situation has changed. Today, ” millions of small shipments are sent directly to different consumers.” However, customs “are not prepared to deal with this increase in volumes of goods and declarations”, specified the Commission, which noted a “systematic misuse of the 150 euro threshold”. “This exemption also favors e-commerce operators from third countries compared to traditional commerce and retailers in the Union, which distorts competition », added the European executive in its preamble to the draft regulation.
According to the European Parliament, “ approximately 65% of shipments entering the EU are deliberately undervaluedresulting in a significant loss of income “. Shipments are even split up to avoid customs duties, lamented the Commission.
Faced with these observations, we must “ tax these products more heavily », pleaded last year Bruno Le Maire, the former Minister of the Economy. Across the Rhine, his German counterpart, Christian Lindler, recently supported this idea, welcoming the three texts under discussion. For the latter, packages coming from these platforms should no longer benefit from tax advantages.
Because according to the German Chancellery questioned by Reutersit is this absence of customs duties that has allowed Temu and Shein to offer prices significantly lower than those of their European competitors. This view is contested by both platforms. For both companies, our colleagues explain, their success is explained not by the exemption from customs duties in Europe and the United States, but by the efficiency of their supply chain.
Another problem raised: disrespect for European standards
Alongside the payment of customs duties, the European Commission, like certain member states, would also like e-commerce sites to respect European standards, such as laws relating to the environment, safety, work or even intellectual property. Thursday September 26, several European countries such as France, Germany, Austria, Poland, Denmark and the Netherlands sent a letter to the Council (the representation of the 27 EU countries), reports ContextFriday September 27.
Their message: “ it is crucial to force manufacturers and e-commerce platforms – including those from third countries – to comply with applicable EU regulations “, especially for ” ensuring fair competition and consumer protection in the EU »they plead. To do this, “thehe proposals relating to the e-commerce sector, such as(…) the removal of the customs duty exemption of 150 EUR, should be discussed as a priority », they write.
A little earlier in the month, associations of European toy, textile and electronics manufacturers, as well as environmental protection NGOs, denounced in a press release “ the increase in non-compliant products available on the European market via marketplaces “. For the latter, e-commerce platforms must be responsible for the conformity of the products they distribute.
These calls are far from a surprise. For years, Temu and Shein have been regularly singled out by the media and NGOs which describe, in addition to unfair competition, deplorable working conditions for the platforms’ small hands, non-compliance with safety standards and intellectual property rights, the dangerousness of toys or even the harmfulness of textiles sometimes offered on these sites.
Last May, 17 European associations, including UFC Que Choisir in France, filed a complaint against Temu, accused of “manipulative practices”. According to these NGOs, the controversial marketplace, on which you can find both high-tech products and ready-to-wear made in China at discounted prices, does not do enough to protect consumers. It would not respect European standards, which are obligatory for companies wishing to trade on the Old Continent.
The company which launched on the European market in April 2023 “ often fails to provide consumers with crucial information about the sellers of the products and is therefore unable to indicate whether the product meets EU product safety requirements », denounces for example the European Bureau of Consumer Unions (BEUC), in a press release.
Also read: Temu is a hit in France, despite suspicions of espionage
A reform far from being signed
However, the European reform, whose application is planned for 2028, is not about to be implemented. Asked by 01net.com Thursday September 19, a press officer of the European Parliament clarified that the Commission’s draft regulation had indeed been the subject of a preliminary vote of the assembly last March. But he is now in the hands of the Council (the representation of the 27 countries of the European Union) which must agree on a version of this project, an essential step before the trilogue phase, the negotiation of the three co-legislators – the Commission, the Parliament and the Council. Within the Council, the three texts have already been the subject of a preliminary analysis and debate, reported an EU official on Friday September 20. A meeting took place last week on this subject, but according to this source, it will still take several months before the Council agrees on the text.
However, although the adoption of this reform will take time, the draft legislation is indeed in the EU pipes. If Europe ends up removing its import tax exemptions, and requires e-commerce companies to provide more information and respect European laws, the consequences for Chinese companies like Shein, Temu or AliExpress could be important.
Because alongside the new taxes to be paid which could be passed on to the prices offered, the platforms should endeavor to show their credentials on their proper application of the standards applicable in Europe (environment, safety, labor law, intellectual property law …). A vast project, which could force them to change their economic model.
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