Dutch gov't wants to tax cheap imports from non-EU countries

The Dutch government wants webshops from outside the European Union to pay import duty on all orders that come to the Netherlands. Packages that cost less than 150 euros are currently exempt from import duty. The Ministry of Finance wants to scrap that exemption, a spokesperson confirmed to BNR.

According to the Ministry spokesperson, taxing all incoming packages will create “a more level playing field for traditional trade.” Because intermediaries who import goods in large quantities to resell them already pay the import duties.

The measure seems to be mainly aimed at Chinese web shops like Shein, Temu, and AliExpress, which benefit greatly from the exemption on cheap packages. These shops are extremely popular in the Netherlands. Netherlands residents placed nearly 9 million orders with Chinese webshops last year, a 39 percent increase compared to 2022, according to figures from trade association Thuiswinkel.org.

“The problem is that there is no level playing field,” Jesse Weltevreden, a lecturer in online entrepreneurship at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, told the current affairs program Nieuwsuur. Chinese parties do not comply with all European rules, which means that European platforms and web shops simply suffer as a result. That is unfair, and that is why it is good that governments take action against it.”

John Lin, an expert in the field of Chinese e-commerce, is also happy that governments are acting against cheap Chinese webshops but doubts that import duties will have much of an effect. “That cable that is now online for 2 euros will soon cost 2.40 euros. But at a Dutch web shop, the same product still costs 10 to 15 euros,” he told Nieuwsuur. According to him, Western companies will never be able to compete. “The business model of [Chinese] web shops is much more efficient: they connect the consumer directly to the manufacturer. So there is no one in between, no importer, no distributor, no shop, and no shop assistant.”

Weltevreden pointed out that companies like Amazon and About You in Europe have announced that they want to develop a similar model in order to compete with Shein, Temu, and AliExpress. “But is that the direction we want to go? Do we want to stimulate consumption even more by competing on price? That is a race to the bottom. It is good for our wallets in the short term but bad for the planet.”

Earlier this month, the Financial Times reported that the European Commission plans to impose import duties on all packages from outside the EU. Customs law is regulated at the European level, so the plan will require the approval of all EU member states.