Since 1 July 2026, the EU has removed the customs duty exemption on imported consignments valued at EUR 150 or less. For shoppers buying from Temu, Shein and similar platforms, that means a flat EUR 3 duty per item, plus VAT.

What the EUR 3 Duty Means for Your Shopping Cart

The change comes from Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382, adopted by the Council on 11 February 2026, which replaces the EUR 150 customs duty exemption with a temporary flat duty of EUR 3 per item on consignments valued at EUR 150 or less. It applies from 1 July 2026 until 1 July 2028, after which normal customs tariffs take over once the EU customs data hub is operational. The implementing rules were published in the Official Journal on 8 June 2026.

The best way to explain how the EUR 3 customs duty on low-value imports will affect the prices and total cost for consumers is from a practical perspective. The first thing to understand is that the duty applies on a per-item basis, meaning that if someone buys headphones from Temu or a shirt from Shein, they will have to pay an additional EUR 3, plus VAT. "Per item" means per tariff sub-heading, not per physical article. The Council's own worked example is a parcel holding one silk blouse and two wool blouses: because the blouses fall under different sub-headings, the parcel counts as two items and attracts EUR 6 in duty.

For example, if a shirt costs EUR 5, the consumer pays EUR 5 for the shirt plus EUR 3 in customs duty, so EUR 8 before VAT. VAT is then charged on top, at the rate of the member state the goods are delivered to.

Now, if a consumer buys a hoodie and jacket, together with a shirt, they will pay EUR 3 on each of these items, totaling EUR 9. In this case, if a hoodie costs EUR 15, a jacket EUR 25, and a shirt EUR 5, the consumer pays EUR 54 before VAT, of which EUR 45 is the price of the goods and EUR 9 is customs duty.

Buying more of the same thing does not multiply the charge. Three identical EUR 5 shirts share a single tariff sub-heading, so the duty is charged once: EUR 15 for the shirts plus EUR 3, or EUR 18 before VAT. Three different garments would fall under three sub-headings and attract EUR 9. It is the variety in the basket that drives the cost, not the number of things in it.

The EU EUR 3 customs duty may be charged at the checkout point by platforms or by postal services or couriers before they deliver goods. For EU consumers, it is important to remember that the new customs duty will not apply to goods shipped from within the EU. That said, even if goods are ordered from an EU supplier, if the goods originate from outside the EU, the customs duty will apply.

Conclusion

In 2024, 4.6 billion small retail packages entered the EU, more than 145 every second, with around 91% originating from China, primarily via Temu, Shein, and AliExpress. The new EUR 3 duty will therefore affect the vast majority of these shipments. For consumers, the key question to watch is whether platforms will build these costs into their prices or pass them on separately at a later stage.