EU seeks to put brakes on China’s fast fashion online retailers Shein, Temu

European Commission considers punitive actions to curb explosive market growth of Chinese merchants deemed ‘direct threat’ to European producers

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Surging shipments of low-value items from China to the EU have sparked calls for greater scrutiny, and curbs. Photo: Reuters

Published: 10:00pm, 27 Sep 2024Updated: 11:40pm, 27 Sep 2024

China’s online retailers – including fast-growing internet merchants Shein and Temu – are in the cross hairs of EU authorities amid concerns about the volume and quality of their products flooding the European market.

Officials are studying a range of actions including the possibility of introducing customs duties on items that fall below the €150 (US$167) value threshold at which import taxes are applied.

The European Commission has also considered punitive action against the transport subsidies received by Chinese operators, which allow goods to be sent at a low cost by air cargo from China to quickly meet booming consumer demand, according to people familiar with the internal thinking.

Shipments of low-value items from China to the European Union’s 27 member states have surged in recent years, as online marketplaces such as Shein, Temu and AliExpress have aggressively targeted the bloc’s consumers through prominent advertising and search engine optimisation.

AliExpress is owned by Alibaba Group Holding, which also owns the South China Morning Post.

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Over the first eight months of this year, these low-value exports – categorised as “articles of low value in simplified customs procedures” – were worth US$8.51 billion – a 61 per cent increase over the same period just two years earlier, according to calculations based on Chinese customs statistics.