The EU Commission has initiated an investigation against the Chinese online marketplace Shein. It is about violations of consumer protection. You also want to proceed against other dealers – but in other ways.
The European consumer protection authorities are exacerbated against the online retailer Shein due to increasing complaints. The European Commission announced a joint procedure of the authorities in the 27 EU countries.
Cheap clothing – with defects
Shein mainly sells so -called Fast fashion – cheap clothes – over the Internet. The group was founded in China in 2012 and is now sitting in Singapore. According to consumer protection associations, customer complaints are increasing due to a lack of quality of the articles or misleading return information. “We have to make sure that goods that are on our market are safe,” said EU consumer protection commissioner Michael McGrath.
The Commission also announced tightened controls from the authorities to take poor products from the market. All online retailers would have to “respect the rights of consumers”.
New fee for small packages
Brussels also wants to proceed against other large online marketplaces from China – such as Temu. Specifically, the Brussels authority proposes to introduce a processing fee for packages of online retailers such as Temu and Shein. This would result in the previous customs exemption for shipments worth up to 150 euros.
The aim is to compensate for the costs for customs authorities caused by the enormous amount of such programs. According to the EU Commission, around 4.6 billion packages with a value of goods were imported to the EU with a value of goods last year – about 90 percent of them from China. The volume of these small programs has more than doubled since 2023.
Praise from Germany
The German economy welcomes the fee planned by the EU Commission. “In the European internal market, the same rules must finally apply to all market participants,” said the deputy managing director of the German trade association, Stephan Tromp: “Providers such as Temu and Shein are no longer allowed to get away with control fractures.”
The German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) was similar. “An EU-wide strategy for fair online trading is long overdue-especially in view of the growing competition from e-commerce direct sales from third countries,” said Dihk trade and digital expert Dirk Binding. “It is not about preventing international trade, but about equal competitive conditions.” German dealers have high tax burdens and strict requirements, while foreign providers use loopholes.
Also affected Amazon or Etsy
The Commission has long wanted to abolish this 150-euro outdoor limit. This could also apply to other online marketplaces such as Amazon or Etsy. This is to ensure that all dealers – regardless of their location – have the same competitive conditions.
European Parliament and EU countries still have to agree to the project.
US President Donald Trump also ended a similar loophole for smaller programs and ended the so-called de-minimis exception of import duties, which previously enabled duty-free deliveries of packages with low value from the People's Republic to the USA. These rules allowed Temu and Shein to send packages with a value of less than $ 800 to the United States.
