Small packages, big maneuvers

The French government’s new offensive against Chinese e-commerce platforms was launched on March 1. In an attempt to stem the impact of these very low-cost products, any parcel with a value of less than 150 euros coming from a country outside the European Union is no longer exempt from customs duties. In short, it costs at least two euros to receive inexpensive clothing and objects.

Even if, for the moment, the additional cost is borne by the seller, some protest against the discrimination against low-income people that this entails. The underlying question is delicate: should we maintain access to low-cost consumption, despite the ecological disaster and the unfair competition that this economic model represents? What for some is good sobriety is experienced by others as austerity which hinders their freedom.

Little concerned with these ethical debates, It didn’t take long for Chinese brands to thumb their noses at the French government: small packages now pass through European countries bordering France, without customs taxes, and are then transported to the consumer by road. Far from curbing production, the new law seems to add to pollution!

Not to mention the damage to French air freightwith a 60% drop in commercial flights from China. Here again, we can wonder if this local e-commerce windfall, which has the merit of creating airport jobs, can continue to grow indefinitely despite its consequences.

Faced with the circumvention maneuver, the French government has not exhausted its last ammunition. At his urging, the European Union also ended up adopting a law taxing small parcels, which should come into force by July 2026 and concern all countries in the area. But the textile giants are already preparing the weapons of the response: there is talk of a giant storage warehouse in Poland from which the shipments will leave, thus escaping the tax…