EU small-parcel imports quadrupled
The number of low-value parcels from China entering Europe more than quadrupled, from €1.3 billion in 2022 to nearly €6 billion last year.
Snapshot · The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
China Decode: Apple's China Chip Play, DeepSeek Seeking Billions, and the Californication of Chinese Food
Explore episode
Jun 30, 2026
Where this was said
Chinese Parcel Loopholes and Europe's Retail Desertification
At 30:10 · chapter starts 30:00
James Kynge details the scale of low-value Chinese parcel imports — quadrupled from €1.3 billion in 2022 to nearly €6 billion in 2024 — which the European Commission itself calls the 'desertification of Europe's high streets' as physical retailers go out of business [1] — James Kynge "The volume of cheap Chinese parcels entering Europe more than quadrupled between 2022 and 2024, from €1.3 billion to nearly €6 billion, pro…" 30:00 . The EU's response: a new €3 surcharge on Chinese packages valued over €150. Alice Han is sceptical this will work, citing a Nikkei report that Chinese merchants on Temu and Shein are already circumventing the US de minimis threshold of $800 through false import declarations and logistics networks. She predicts the same workarounds will quickly emerge to neutralise Brussels' new measure, given how agile Chinese e-commerce operators have proven at exploiting regulatory loopholes.
Chinese Parcels Are Desertifying Europe's High Streets
The volume of cheap Chinese parcels entering Europe more than quadrupled between 2022 and 2024, from €1.3 billion to nearly €6 billion, prompting Brussels to add a €3 fee on packages over €150. The European Commission itself calls the result the 'desertification of Europe's high streets'.
Are Chinese Merchants Circumventing US De Minimis Rules?
Alice Han flagged a Nikkei report showing Chinese merchants on Temu and Shein are already finding loopholes — including false import declarations and logistics networks — to avoid the US de minimis tariff threshold of $800. If the same applies to Europe's new €3 parcel fee, the measure may be dead on arrival.
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