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129
EU introduces €3 customs charge on small parcels to curb cheap Chinese imports (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 16 hours ago by Wudi@feddit.uk to c/europe@feddit.org
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[–] KyuubiNoKitsune@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

Look at who funded and lobbied for this, this isn't about protecting EU manufacturing, most of these companies manufacture their goods outside the EU and charge exorbitant prices for them.

This is once again taking the power out of the proles hands.

Parent Corporate Member Key Retail Brands & Subsidiaries Annual Revenue
Schwarz Group Lidl, Kaufland, PreZero €185.6 Billion
REWE Group BILLA, REWE, Penny, Toom Baumarkt, BIPA €100.4 Billion
Ahold Delhaize Albert Heijn, Delhaize, Alfa Beta, Mega Image, Maxi, Albert €92.35 Billion
Carrefour Group Carrefour, Carrefour Market, Express, AtacadΓ£o, Cora, Match €91.48 Billion
Tesco PLC Tesco, Tesco Express, One Stop €82 Billion
Inditex Zara, Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius €36 Billion
H&M Group H&M, COS, Monki, Weekday, & Other Stories, ARKET €21 Billion
Colruyt Group Colruyt, Okay, Spar €11.19 Billion

Credit to https://www.reddit.com/user/Interesting_Pie_319/ for the data.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Aliexpress/comments/1ugpyoe/i_dug_around_a_bit_and_found_exactly_who_is/

[–] KyuubiNoKitsune@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Can they put an exclusion for electronic components? 90% of the shit isn't manufactured in the EU and local companies buy it from China and charge you 10x the price.

[–] wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 1 points 5 hours ago

Mouser isn't a bad option

[–] fyffes@feddit.org 20 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

Important bit of information: China gets subsidised parcel fee under an agreement of the World Post Association. They pay less for postage than European businesses shipping within the continent.

[–] B0rax@feddit.org 14 points 11 hours ago (3 children)

Why is this not changed? Why all these additional taxes and hoops when they could simply cancels these subsidies?

[–] BananaTrifleViolin@piefed.world 1 points 4 hours ago

It's managed by the Universal Postal Union, which is part of the UN, and the organisation has been in effect in one form or another since 1874 with 192 members currently. International treaties between so many countries are extremely difficult to reform. It's much easier to make a new treaty than reform an existing one because there are so many vested interests in the current system.

In this case, the subsidy is designed to help developing countries have fair access to the global post system. But when it was created, it was likely not envisioned that a developing country might become a rich country, nor that the postal system would become such an important part of e-commerce.

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 2 points 8 hours ago

easier to add a new agreement than cancel an old i guess. treaties are hard

[–] fyffes@feddit.org 5 points 11 hours ago

Good question. I guess you have to ask those responsible.

[–] SeductiveTortoise@piefed.social 4 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

I've wondered for years how they manage free shipping for all the small shit.

[–] wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 2 points 5 hours ago

I'm guessing it just goes on flights that would be going anyway, probably filling in gaps where larger packages don't fit which would just be empty anyway.

No clue what agreements they have with the carriers to let them do that for dirt cheap, but it's the only thing that makes sense.

[–] master94ga@lemmy.world 11 points 13 hours ago

Should be specified that is not specific to Chinese imports, it's to any import from any country outside of EU

[–] gabelstapler@feddit.org 8 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

In the meantime Chinese companies built warehouses in Europe, which are importing the cheap goods en grosse. You're buying from a Chinese supplier, but the parcel is sent out from Europe.

[–] TheBlackLounge@lemmy.zip 11 points 12 hours ago

Much more easy to regulate those. That's kind of the point.

[–] tal@lemmy.today 3 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

In the meantime Chinese companies built warehouses in Europe, which are importing the cheap goods en grosse.

They probably weren't, at least for the things being described here, as the article is talking about de minimis.

The de minimis exception basically let low-value packages through without paying import tariffs.

There's some reason to do that

it'd be more expensive to process the (many) low-value packages.

However, this also meant that if someone imported something in small, low-value amounts, they didn't have to pay import tariffs, whereas people doing bulk imports did.

This was a major reason for use of the explosion of Chinese online retailers in the West, like Temu. They'd sell something that was shipped directly from China, which meant that they didn't need to pay import tariffs on it. Traditional importers would import a large batch and would need to pay import tariffs, and then distribute the large batch from within the country in question, which penalized traditional retail.

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 1 points 8 hours ago

ooo, i like you. de minimis is my favorite legal term

[–] Jhex@lemmy.world 15 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

The only people that can import cheap Chinese stuff are corporations... don't you dare bypassing their money making schemes

[–] notsosure@sh.itjust.works 26 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (1 children)

No, that’s a very naive and uninformed viewpoint. The EU is being flooding with 100s of millions of packages with value-free SHEIN and temu stuff, the delivery services even do not know how to handle it anymore. It is a tremendous danger for local industry, it is very bad for the environment. Do some online research, you will be impressed with the impact of these cheap products literally flooding into the European Union.

[–] Jhex@lemmy.world 9 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (1 children)

Aren't those same cheap products coming in through corporations that sell it under some brand at triple the cost?

The "local" industries have already been decimated by the big conglomerates which imported the same cheap Chinese stuff and sold it as a hilarious profit.

[–] fyffes@feddit.org 4 points 13 hours ago (7 children)

It's not the same stuff, though. A lot of these products do not fulfill any product safety law. There have been lots tests of random products sold on these platforms, showing that many are unsafe and/or dangerous (just google). A business sourcing from China has to ensure that sold products are safe and fulfill legal requirements. And yes, for this "service" they charge higher prices, and sometimes even unjustifiedly.

[–] justaman123@lemmy.world 3 points 11 hours ago

So basically they are flooding eu with like small pox blankets in the form of consumer products with like lead or whatever in them. While getting paid for it

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 4 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) (3 children)

Right in the article they cite the analysis has numbers on a few groups of products like protrction equipment, makeup, and whether they pass EU standards. 60%-something do not. That also means 30%-something pass EU standards. That's a lot of quality cheap product. Of course as a consumer you can't tell whether you're getting something from the 35% pile or the 65% one. But that doesn't detract from the point of a lot of the cheap stuff in the category is the same stuff when it comes to EU standards.

Here's an anecdote - years ago I really wanted a magnetic USB cable. Being skeptical of AliExpress stuff, especially electrical, I found a North American brans called Volta. Bought a cable. Cost me CAD $20 or $30. Some time after, I was browsing AliExpress for some specialty ebike parts that aren't imported in Canada, I took a look at the magnetic cables they got. After a few pages of results I found a suspiciously similar cable to the Volta sold by the manufacturer itself. $3-4 for a set with a few magnetic tips. Ordered one. Once it came, I meticulously compared it to the Volta. It was identical in every way. It even failed in the same weak spot after a couple of years of use as the Volta. So yeah, while not everything is the same, not everything is not the same either.

Side note - the AliExpress prices are not the low prices available in other cheaper Chinese domestic retailers. Stuff on AliExpress already has significant markups. Volta did not pay $3-4 for that cable. They prolly paid $0.50-1 if even that much. They made exorbitant profit.

[–] DireTech@sh.itjust.works 1 points 4 hours ago

USB cables are actually a great example of where finding a brand with a good name does matter. Lots of cheap cables don’t properly follow the spec and then people end up frying their steam deck or other hardware.

It’s not so bad for data transfer but a real issue when you’re using them for supplying more power for computers or other expensive devices.

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[–] TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zone 14 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Kinda seems like a tax on the poor for being unable to afford better products.

[–] GenosseFlosse@feddit.org 5 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

You don't get better products. You get products without safety testing, warranty or support. Clothes from some eastern brands have high amounts of chemicals that are forbidden in Europe because they cause cancer or infertility. Some type of escooter was banned in the UK some years ago because the dodgy electronics where responsible for multiple house fires. Iot devices or computers from some no name brand won't get updates if a hacker finds exploits to mine Bitcoins on it, or spy on you and capture your logins from your cheap temu wifi router.

[–] TheTetrapod@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

You should reread their comment, you agree with each other.

[–] GenosseFlosse@feddit.org 1 points 1 hour ago

You are right, sorry. I did not have my coffee yet.

[–] morgunkorn@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 16 hours ago (4 children)

on the principle that's fine, but it also means that DHL will add 6.50€ fees on top of that here in germany, which you can only pay in cash upon delivery, and they don't even carry change.

[–] wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 2 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

I'm not in Germany but DHL has a website where I can pay any fees. They usually text me a link when I have a package on the way.

It's kinda bullshit that I had to pay a $17 service fee when the import fees were only $3, but at least they accepted digital payment...

[–] morgunkorn@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

Germany is its own beast. For the longest time i couldn't pay electronically at the post office because they only accepted EC, and no Visa/Mastercard/Apple Pay. with my french bank i don't have that, so i had to bring cash always.

this is the kind of e-mail i get when i have a delivery with customs fee:

Your DHL shipment will be delivered to you today by your mail and package carrier.

The import duties in the amount of €25.67 (including a €7.50 handling fee and the VAT included therein) are to be paid in cash upon delivery, with exact change if possible.

[–] notsosure@sh.itjust.works 7 points 16 hours ago (7 children)

As long as it helps stopping people from buying this Chinese stuff, I’m fine with it! Buy local, buy ecological, buy less but valuable and durable products.

[–] Redditquaza@feddit.org 1 points 6 hours ago

It will do absolutely nothing to stop people from buying Chinese stuff, it's just a stupid cash grab. The only ones benefiting are whoever collects the fee and companies importing Chinese goods on a large scale, as they can still offer them for basically the same price as before while individual imports get more expensive.

[–] TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zone 16 points 15 hours ago (4 children)

Maybe it's different in Europe, but in the US, my options are generally buy a Chinese-made product close to directly from the manufacturer via AliExpress or what have you or buy (often the same exact) a Chinese-made product through an American named big box store for 10x or even 25x the price.

[–] DireTech@sh.itjust.works 1 points 4 hours ago

For online stores that’s true, but the retailer is responsible for anything they sell in the US. There will still be some of that same junk, but a lot of those electronics are filtered out from retail because they aren’t certified.

Take a look at what kind of power strips are available online vs in a hardware store.

[–] wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 1 points 5 hours ago

Half the shit on ebay gets dropshipped from amazon. Literally just shows up in amazon packages, from amazon trucks. Occasional a doordasher brings something from walmart. No disclosure on the ebay stores whatsoever that that's what they're doing.

And half the shit on amazon is probably dropshipped from AliExpress. And half the shit on AliExpress is probably dropshipped from some more obscure Chinese ecommerce site.

I'm beginning to think it's just dropshipping all the way down...

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[–] fonix232@fedia.io 11 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

Buy local, buy ecological

Awesome, show me a local manufacturer who deals with speciality electronics and sensors and does them €3-4 apiece.

[–] wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 1 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Not sure about manufacturers but DigiKey, Mouser, Jameco, MicroCenter, and McMaster-Carr are all decent options.

Most will tell you where something is manufactured. Some stuff is from China but they also have stuff from Taiwan, generally better quality in my experience. Some things you can find manufactured in EU or other western countries, but fabs don't exist everywhere for everything.

But at the very least these places are importing items in large quantities so it's still more eco-friendly than having individual nickle-dime stuff flown over entire oceans and continents.

[–] fonix232@fedia.io 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Those are stores. Who also order the components from China, then add surcharges for having them locally available.

Most components on all listed sites will also be 2-3x more expensive than if ordered from manufacturer directly (unless mfg lists them on the site), at which point "buy European" simply becomes "pay 2-3x to a European company for doing what you could be doing on your own".

[–] wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 1 points 4 hours ago

I mean most passive components will still run you about ten cents per. It's not like that's exorbitant. If you need to order a thousand of them you'll get a bulk discount.

My point was on the environmental aspect. These stores can import them in larger quantities, so it's less fuel consumption in transport than ordering smaller quantities that ship direct from China

[–] notsosure@sh.itjust.works 6 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (2 children)

Did you ever wonder why these Chinese products are so cheap, and why they are not produced in Europe anymore? I think you should read up on this! First, the Chinese keep to Yuan artificially at a very low level. This is already unfair, and continues to boost their economy. Second, they subsidize most companies that export into other countries, to aggressively gain market share. Their workers work under poor conditions, and for that reason are cheap Labor (as you probably know, some are even slaves;-). So while you are happy to save a couple of bucks, people in the EU are loosing jobs and factories are closing down. I saw this happening with Japanese cars and electronics in the 70s and 80s. Whole industries disappeared.

[–] fonix232@fedia.io 6 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

95% of the product palette I use has literally no European alternative. Kinda hard to buy something that doesn't exist.

[–] KyuubiNoKitsune@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 6 hours ago

Don't worry, a local Corp will import it and sell it to you for 10x the price!

[–] blackbeans@lemmy.zip 1 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

As I remember, the Japanese cars, motorcycles and electronics were also miles better than what we produced here in the seventies. If anything it is an example that nothing is unbeatable. The Japanese didn't kill the automotive industry in Europe. European cars and motorcycles instead got better and more desirable from the 80s on. And the Japanese electronics didn't take over. Instead, European companies first got better as well, and later outsourced production to Eastern countries like China. Now that outsourcing is backfiring and European companies are once again challenged.

[–] BigShammy80@feddit.org 11 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Why?

For example, i can order 25 $ Handguards for my bike, that are 100% identical to the original part, which costs 120 €

I'm with you on certain things, but some companies just make a lot of money with overprizing

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