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Poles complain about Temu and Shein. The Polish government responds
The European Commission wants to abolish the current relief in the form of exemption from customs duties for shipments from outside the EU worth up to EUR 150. Customers would therefore have to pay customs duty even for orders below this value.
According to the European Commission, 2.3 billion products worth less than the limit of EUR 150 were imported into the EU. They come from Chinese sales platforms such as AliExpress, Shein or Temu. Subsidized shipping costs enable Chinese traders to ship these goods to the EU in a cost-effective way via air freight.
From 2021, shipments to EU customers are subject to VAT but are exempt from customs duties. The Commission is considering accelerating action to curb the rising tide of cheap imports. Another proposal assumes monitoring of dangerous products, because in 2022-2023 the number of such notifications in the EU increased by over 50%. This includes, among others: toys, cosmetics, electrical appliances and clothing.
Poles equally divided on Shein and Temu
The DlaHandlu.pl portal asked the Ariadna National Research Panel to ask whether respondents believe that Chinese platforms with very cheap products should be subject to additional customs duties.
A large percentage of respondents marked the answer "difficult to say". The rest who have an opinion on this matter claim that additional tariffs should not be imposed on Chinese sales platforms because the prices of their products will increase. The same number believe that this should be done because European markets need to be protected against them.
The study was conducted on the Ariadna National Research Panel on a nationwide sample of N = 1,138 people. Amounts selected according to representation in the population of Poles aged 18 and over, gender, age and size of place of residence. Implementation date: July 5–7, 2024. Method: CAWI.
Goods from Chinese sales platforms
The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection receives numerous complaints from customers, which indicate that the practices used by the Chinese platforms Shein and Temu may constitute a multi-level violation of national and EU regulations in the field of, among others: consumer protection.
The allegations regarding the activities of the Shein and Temu sales platforms concern such issues as the lack of presentation during promotions of the price that was valid in the period of 30 days before the introduction of the discount, misleading product ratings, failure to indicate a clear and specific price of goods: in relation to some products, used there are unclear terms regarding the price of a given product, greenwashing and many others. Chinese platforms are also accused of avoiding taxes and duties, thanks to which they can offer products at very low prices.
