this post was submitted on 30 Oct 2026
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A €3 fee also came into force in July, leading to a 60% drop in small parcel imports over three months. The new rules aim to counter imports from Chinese platforms, whose low prices threaten European retailers.

The new €2 fee, which comes into force on 1 November, will apply to all packages, regardless of their value, and will cover customs handling costs. It comes in addition to the €3 duty.

In 2024, 91% of those shipments came from China, posing fierce competition for European retailers.

So we're not going to care about the remaining 9%?

Example from revenue.ie:

For example, a package valued at €10 containing a pen, notebook and key ring purchased online and sent from outside the EU contains three different items. Since 1 July 2026, the €3 Customs Duty charge applies to each item, resulting in Customs Duty of €9, plus any applicable VAT. From 1 November 2026, an additional Union Handling Fee of €2 per item will also apply, adding €6. The total charges will therefore be €15, plus any applicable VAT.

And example of what's in those 9% (as of 2024):

However, eCommerce goods sent from Great Britain to Ireland will be liable to Customs Duty, VAT and from 1 November, the Union Handling Fee.

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[–] Redditquaza@feddit.org 16 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Wonderful, gotta love making individual imports of things literally not available in the EU more expensive for no reason while mass commercial imports of Chinese products benefit once again.

[–] Ghoelian@piefed.social 14 points 1 week ago

I mean yeah it might suck, but it's for very good reasons lol

[–] user224@lemmy.sdf.org 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Good luck getting components.
I just tried AliExpress for ~~fun~~.
50 red LEDs at €0.79. Cool. Just with €6.15 import fees.
Scummy resellers must be jumping in the air from excitement.

Scummy resellers must be jumping in the air from excitement.

They're not, as they know people buy LEDs and other cheap electronics from AliExpress because they're cheap. The price increase is also not just from import fees but also an (undesired) strengthening of the CNY to most major currencies, as for the euro it's been almost 10% since January.