Sales on Shein, Temu, and AliExpress have fallen sharply in Germany, while customs authorities across Europe report fewer small shipments. The early results suggest the charge is changing trade, although European retailers have yet to see clear benefits.
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In Germany, combined sales on Shein, Temu, and AliExpress dropped by 35.5 per cent year on year to €566m in the third quarter, according to e-commerce association BEVH. Their combined share of German online retail fell from 5.3 per cent in the second quarter to 3.1 per cent. The consumer survey measures spending, providing evidence of falling purchases beyond changes in customs declarations.
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Italy recorded a 39 per cent decline in low-value parcel imports in July–August compared with May–June, according to figures from Customs Agency Director Roberto Alesse cited in an Italian parliamentary research dossier.
In Poland, Finance Ministry figures supplied to PAP showed customs declarations falling from 4.24m in June to 2.11m in July, a monthly decline of 50.1 per cent.
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The pattern extends elsewhere. Belgian authorities reported 53 per cent fewer low-value declarations in July than a year earlier. Czech customs figures reported by ČTK showed declared items falling by 81 per cent between June and September, from 13.6m to 2.6m. The figures cover different periods and counting methods, so they illustrate the scale of the adjustment rather than a ranking of declining demand.
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The duty is also changing how goods reach customers. Dutch Customs reported a 46 per cent fall in average e-commerce declarations in its initial July–August comparison with the first-half average, while standard declarations rose by 20 per cent. Its August figures were provisional and covered only the period to 25 August. Retailers appeared to be importing more goods in bulk and storing them in European warehouses before dispatching orders to consumers.
That shift can help customs authorities inspect imports. Dutch Customs Director-General Nannette van Schelven said fewer individual parcels were arriving directly for consumers, “making it easier for us to check whether products are safe”.
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Product safety remains a concern: as EU Perspectives reported, the Commission has accepted Temu’s plan to strengthen safeguards after tests exposed unsafe toys and chargers on its platform.
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Tariffs alone are not enough
BEVH attributed the pressure on low-margin Asian products to higher import charges. However, weakening confidence and rising energy costs also weighed on spending, while domestic retailers had not benefited from their competitors’ decline. “Tariffs alone are not enough,” BEVH chief executive Alien Mulyk said, calling for stronger market surveillance and enforcement.
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AliExpress was THE place for DIY electronic projects. In one place thousands of different components and versions, and all necessary parts and tools.
I recently wanted to do something with an ESP32 and some sensors, the final price was almost 2X with customs duties, vat on a those, customs processing fees plus also vat on the fees.
I tried to buy on Europe then, the product selection is much shorter with an increased markup, plush shipping from multiple places cause forget about finding all (or part) on the same store.
I don’t mind paying extra for European goods in European stores, but if they just sell the same Chinese cheap stuff at an insane markup. What value are they adding?
Just in example, a Seed Studio ESP32-C6 on AE was 6,34€, on European webs that would deliver to my place was 9,99€ at the lowest (I found one that was 7.XY€ but they only sell to businesses).
I'm 100℅ with you, this isn't helping europe, it's just taxing normal people. Especially for electronic components, we just don't produce that stuff... the only way is importing it anyway, and the way that these tariffs apply e.g. on Aliexpress hit the hobbyists way harder than the reseller.