The EU €3 customs duty on parcels from China: what it costs your online shop and when bulk shipping wins

Since 1 July 2026 the EU €3 customs duty on parcels from China applies to every item in a low-value B2C consignment worth €150 or less. A parcel holding three products with three different TARIC codes on an H1 declaration now pays €9 in duty. If your typical basket mixes several products, shipping stock in bulk to an EU warehouse can cost less per order.

What changed for parcels from China on 1 July 2026?

Until 30 June 2026, goods worth €150 or less sent to EU consumers paid import VAT but no customs duty. That exemption has ended. The European Commission confirmed on its Access2Markets portal on 30 June 2026 that a flat €3 customs duty per item now applies to low-value e-commerce consignments. The legal basis is Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 of 11 February 2026 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1200, published on 8 June 2026.

The duty covers B2C distance sales whatever VAT route you use: IOSS, the special arrangements or standard import VAT. It also applies whatever declaration type your carrier files, whether H1, H6 or H7. Registering for IOSS does not take you out of it.

The reason is volume. According to the European Parliament (2025), the EU received 4.6 billion low-value items under €150 in 2024, about 12 million a day, and 91% of e-commerce shipments under €150 came from China. The €3 duty is described as temporary: it runs until 1 July 2028, the planned launch of the EU Customs Data Hub, and may be extended if the hub is not ready.

Three further dates to put in your plan

• 1 November 2026: product identifiers become mandatory for import distance sales, according to Access2Markets. Your listings and declarations need them.
• Handling fee (proposed, not yet in force): a separate fee to cover customs processing costs is under discussion and could be introduced at the end of 2026, with 1 November 2026 named as a deadline. The amount is not fixed. The European Parliament reported that the Commission proposed €2 per shipment in its February 2025 e-commerce communication. Check the final text before you price it in.
• United Kingdom, by October 2028 at the latest: the £135 low-value import relief will be removed, making those goods subject to customs duty. The HMRC and HM Treasury policy paper was published on 13 July 2026 and updated on 30 September 2026. A UK-based fiscal representative will become jointly liable for overseas sellers' low-value declarations.

How is the EU €3 customs duty on parcels from China counted?

The duty is charged per item, and the definition of an item matters more than the number of units. An item is the goods in a consignment that share the same tariff classification, description and, where applicable, origin. Five identical phone cases are one item. A phone case, a screen protector and a cable are three items.

Because of IT limits, customs applies the €3 per declaration line, so the declaration type your carrier uses changes the bill:

• H7 (6-digit HS code): items sharing the same HS code share one line, so €3.
• H6 (8-digit CN code): items sharing the same CN code share one line, so €3.
• H1 (10-digit TARIC code): goods with different TARIC codes need separate lines. The Commission's own example is three items with different TARIC codes, which pay €9.

Grouping goods under different subheadings into a single line to pay €3 once is not permitted. Ask your carrier or customs broker which declaration type they file for your parcels, because the same basket can cost €3 or €9 depending on the answer.

What does the €3 duty cost your online shop?

The worked examples below are illustrations, not quotes. Replace the figures with your own order data.

Illustration 1, single-product shop. You send 1,000 orders a month, each containing one product. That is 1,000 items at €3, so €3,000 a month or €36,000 a year in new customs duty. If the proposed handling fee were adopted at €2 per shipment, you would add a further €2,000 a month.

Illustration 2, mixed baskets. Your average order holds 2.5 different products, each with its own TARIC code, declared under H1. Each order pays about €7.50, so 1,000 orders a month cost €7,500 in duty before any handling fee.

Now compare the duty with the price of the goods. €3 is 30% of a €10 item, 15% of a €20 item and 3% of a €100 item. Low-value products sold in mixed baskets are hit hardest. Expensive single items barely notice it.

When does bulk shipping win?

When you import stock in bulk as a normal commercial shipment, you pay normal customs duty on the goods' value at the rate set for each product's TARIC code, plus import VAT under the normal rules. You do not pay €3 per item. Look up the rate for each product in the EU TARIC database or, for the UK, the UK Trade Tariff. Do not assume a rate.

A simple test: bulk wins on duty when the normal rate multiplied by the item value is lower than €3. On a €20 item, any normal duty rate under 15% beats the flat €3. Then add the logistics. As an illustration, if one 40ft container holds 8,000 units, the Drewry World Container Index of 1 October 2026 for Shanghai to Rotterdam, USD 3,399 per 40ft, works out at about USD 0.42 per unit in ocean freight, before origin charges, insurance, port fees, haulage, warehousing and last-mile delivery.

Freight is moving. Drewry reported Asia to Europe rates falling 12 weeks in a row as Suez Canal transits rise, and Ahram Online reported on 29 September 2026 that Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd will route their AE12 Asia to Europe service through the Suez Canal in both directions from 27 October 2026. Rates change weekly, so check before you book.

Which shipping model fits your shop?

Here is how the four main options compare:

• Direct parcel with IOSS: no stock to hold and no warehouse. You pay €3 per item line plus postage and VAT, and any handling fee once adopted. Best for testing new products and for the long tail.
• Consolidated air freight to an EU fulfilment centre: stock arrives in days rather than weeks. Freight per kilo is the highest of the bulk options, but you pay normal duty on value and no €3 per item. Suits fast sellers that are light and high in value.
• Sea freight, FCL or LCL, to Rotterdam, Hamburg or Piraeus, then local fulfilment: the lowest freight per unit on volume, with weeks at sea and cash tied up in stock. Drewry put Shanghai to Rotterdam at USD 3,399 and Shanghai to Genoa at USD 3,702 per 40ft on 1 October 2026.
• China to Europe rail: sits between sea and air on transit time and cost. Ask for a current quote and check capacity on your route before you plan around it.

How do you decide between parcels and bulk?

1. Export three months of order data and count, for each order, how many different products it contains.
2. Classify every SKU to its 10-digit TARIC code for the EU and its commodity code for the UK, then look up the normal duty rate for each.
3. Ask your carrier which declaration type it files (H1, H6 or H7) and calculate your real €3 cost per order.
4. Add the proposed handling fee as a separate scenario, clearly marked as not yet in force.
5. Get a full bulk quote: freight, origin charges, insurance, port and customs broker fees, warehouse storage, pick and pack, and last-mile delivery.
6. Split your catalogue: move your fast sellers to bulk stock and keep slow or test products on direct parcels.
7. Time your first bulk order around factory closures using our guide to China factory holidays in Q4 2026, and inspect the goods before you pay, because a faulty container is far harder to fix than one faulty parcel.

Use this checklist before you switch any product to bulk:

• Correct 10-digit TARIC code confirmed for each product
• Normal duty rate checked in the EU TARIC database or the UK Trade Tariff
• Product identifiers ready for 1 November 2026
• At least three months of sales history for the SKU
• EU or UK warehouse and fulfilment partner chosen, with pick and pack fees in writing
• Importer of record and customs broker agreed
• Freight quote dated within the last week of booking
• Pre-shipment inspection booked

If you are still choosing suppliers for larger runs, our comparison of Yiwu Fair, Yiwu market and 1688 explains where wholesale volumes are easier to source.

Common mistakes with the €3 duty

• Grouping different goods under one code to pay €3 once. It is not permitted and puts every later shipment under scrutiny.
• Assuming IOSS protects you. The duty applies whatever VAT regime you use.
• Ignoring the declaration type. The same basket can cost €3 under H7 and €9 under H1.
• Treating the handling fee as settled. It is proposed, not in force, and the amount is not fixed.
• Forgetting the UK. The £135 relief goes by October 2028 at the latest, and a fiscal representative will share liability.
• Moving the whole catalogue to bulk at once. Slow sellers become dead stock in a European warehouse.
• Booking on an old freight rate. Asia to Europe rates moved for 12 weeks in a row up to 1 October 2026.

What should you do next?

1. Run your last three months of orders through the €3 calculation and find your cost per order.
2. Pick your top 10 products by volume and price one bulk shipment for them to an EU or UK warehouse.
3. Set a reminder to check the handling fee decision and the product identifier rules before 1 November 2026.

HiGreenPanda can take the freight side off your hands, from consolidating your suppliers' goods in China to booking sea, rail or air to your European warehouse, through our shipping and freight service.