Shein: EU fee and French penalties could increase prices in France
French consumers could see higher prices on purchases from low-cost online platform Shein if the European Union moves forward with a proposed handling fee and France enacts a bill targeting fast-fashion products, the company said on Thursday.
The statement, made by Shein's France spokesperson Quentin Ruffat during an interview with Sud Radio, marked the company's first public reaction to the EU initiative. The plan proposes a 2-euro ($2.26) handling fee on all e-commerce packages entering the 27-nation bloc.
"Why tax us? Why not have a discussion and find a solution between public officials and e-commerce platforms?" Ruffat said during the interview.
The proposed EU fee is generally viewed as another setback for platforms like Shein and rival Temu, which have grown rapidly worldwide by shipping inexpensive products directly to consumers and leveraging customs exclusions for low-value goods.
The 2-euro fee would apply to packages delivered directly to customers, with a smaller 50-cent fee imposed on parcels handled by a warehouse in the EU.
Ruffat also pointed to a bill, approved in France's lower house of parliament in March, that seeks penalties on fast-fashion products in a bid to offset their environmental impact.
"Between the (French) bill ... which mainly targets Shein, and the announcement yesterday by the European Union, the French could pay 12 euros more for their Shein clothing by 2030," Ruffat said.
The handling fees would need to be approved by EU member governments and the European Parliament. However, France, a powerful country in the bloc, has already endorsed such a measure.
The European Commission said in February it would remove duty-free treatment of e-commerce packages worth no more than 150 euros starting in 2028.
Earlier this month, the United States scrapped its "de minimis" policy allowing duty-free entry to packages worth less than $800.
($1 = 0.8844 euros)
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