Small parcels: French MPs back tax targeting Shein and Temu

On Wednesday evening, the French National Assembly approved the introduction of a €2 tax on “small parcels” of non-European origin worth less than €150, which will be used to fund mechanisms to inspect these products.

The measure, proposed by the government as part of the first reading of the state budget, was approved by 208 MPs to 87. The RN voted against, while the left, the government coalition and the Ciotti-aligned UDR group, an ally of Marine Le Pen, voted in favour.

The measure was devised in response to the surge of ultra-low-cost Chinese platforms Temu and Shein. On the day of the vote, around a hundred brands and 12 federations announced they were joining legal action against Shein. Representatives of the retail and clothing sectors took the opportunity to point out that 800 million small parcels arrived in France last year. According to Fevad (the French e-commerce federation), a recent inspection of 200,000 parcels reportedly found that 80% of Shein parcels were non-compliant.

“This measure, although minimal, is necessary to begin restoring a basic level of fairness between French retailers and the ultra-fast fashion giants,” explains Pierre Talamon, president of the Fédération nationale de l’habillement (FNH), which represents the independent fashion trade. “It is a question of economic survival, commercial justice, and the protection of hundreds of thousands of jobs in our shops, our workshops, our city centres.”

The French vote comes just days after the European Commission announced its intention to hasten the abolition of the €150 threshold below which the European Union (EU) does not apply customs duties on parcels entering the bloc, in order to combat cheap Chinese imports. The Commission is now aiming for implementation in the first half of 2026, whereas the original timetable targeted mid-2028.

MPs divided on the subject

The measure sparked heated debate in the Assembly, with the Rassemblement National (RN) denouncing a “tax on popular consumption and the middle classes”, while Public Accounts Minister Amélie de Montchalin defended a “fee” intended to control products that are often “dangerous”.

These discussions come at a time when the Chinese e-commerce platform Shein is under fire, accused of selling numerous non-compliant and illicit products.

“This is not a tax to prevent unfair Chinese competition, it’s a tax on popular consumption and the middle classes,” denounced MP Jean-Philippe Tanguy (RN).

“To make the French believe that by taxing small parcels you will be able to dramatically increase the number of checks is to take people for fools,” added the group’s president, Marine Le Pen, noting that “last year, 0.125% of parcels were checked”.

La France Insoumise (LFI) also expressed concern about the impact of the tax on consumers, demanding that platforms be taxed directly rather than the parcels to protect them, and threatening to vote against the measure.

€500 million

The government tabled an amendment designed to address this concern, allowing the tax to be paid via “the VAT channel”, which is “collected via the platforms”. This convinced LFI to support the government’s proposal.

The tax is expected to raise around €500 million, which Ms de Montchalin said would be used to fund the purchase of scanners to check parcels and to hire customs officers.

She welcomed the fact that France would implement the tax “from January1,” like Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, nine months earlier than other EU countries.

“Those who tonight will not vote for this tax… have not chosen France, they have not chosen our retailers, they will have chosen China and its flood,” she thundered.

She also pointed out that European Union finance ministers had agreed last week to abolish the exemption from customs duties enjoyed by these small parcels.

Just before midnight, however, MPs scrapped another article from the bill, intended to tax all smoking products, with or without tobacco or nicotine.

“Some 700,000 people have managed to quit smoking thanks to the e-cigarette,” an effective alternative that “saves lives” and is “far less dangerous than cigarettes”, argued Renaissance MP Pierre Cazeneuve. Among them were many MPs, himself included.

FashionNetwork.com with AFP