On July 1, 2026, the European Union will officially cancel the 35-year-old tariff exemption policy for small parcels under 150 euros. China’s cross-border e-commerce is standing at a historic turning point.
According to the “(EU)” approved by the European Council in December 2025
2026/382″ regulations, the new policy will be implemented in phases: July 2026 to June 2028 is the transition period, small packages under 150 euros will be levied a fixed tariff of 3 euros according to the HS code category, and multi-category mixed packaging will be charged at the same time; from November 2026, an additional 2 euros/piece customs clearance processing fee will be added. After adding the original IOSS value-added tax, the comprehensive cost of a single cross-border direct mail package will increase by 5 ~
8 euros; starting from July 2028, regular tariffs of 0% to 17% will be fully levied in accordance with the official tariffs.
This policy will directly affect the core advantages of China’s cross-border e-commerce.
Data shows that 91% of the 4.6 billion cross-border parcels entering the EU in 2024 will come from China.
“The era of 9.9 euros with free shipping is completely over.” A seller of 3C accessories in Shenzhen made a calculation: a mobile phone case priced at 9.9 euros originally had a small profit after deducting procurement, logistics, and platform commissions, but after July 1, the tariff alone amounted to 23 yuan, and the loss exceeded 30 yuan per order sold.
Industry estimates show that products with a unit price of less than 20 euros will face zero profits. Currently, 65% of Chinese sellers in Europe have SKUs in this range, and more than 60% of small and medium-sized sellers are on the verge of elimination.
The “superimposed taxation” rules for multi-category mixed packages further intensify cost pressures.
A three-piece package including a mobile phone case, data cable and earphones, which originally only needed to be shipped once, now needs to pay a tariff of 3 euros for each of the three categories of goods, and the tariff alone is as high as 9 euros.
“This is equivalent to forcing sellers to either split packages or give up combined sales. Either choice will further push up costs.” Industry insiders frankly said that nearly 30% of small and medium-sized sellers in Yiwu, Shenzhen and other places have begun to reduce their European station operations, and some have directly closed stores.
The new tariff policy has forced China’s cross-border e-commerce to undergo a collective logistics model transition.
Data from the first day of the mainstream cross-border platform’s “618” promotion show that orders shipped from overseas warehouses in Europe’s core markets accounted for more than 50% for the first time, a figure that was less than 30% a year ago.
The overseas warehouse model avoids high direct mail taxes and fees through “bulk customs declaration + local distribution”: taking a 10-euro product as an example, the direct mail tax is 5 to 8 euros, and bulk customs clearance into overseas warehouses is only 0.5 to 1 euro, which has a significant cost advantage.
The huge demand has given rise to the “overseas warehouse craze”.
“Major overseas warehouses in Germany and Poland are now basically scheduled to be scheduled after August, and rents have increased by more than 30% year-on-year.” Logistics service providers revealed that European shipments in 2026 are expected to double that of 2025, but the supply of warehouses will increase by less than 50%.
Leading platforms are taking radical actions: several cross-border e-commerce platforms plan to increase their European overseas warehouse coverage to 80% by the end of 2026, and are urgently expanding capacity in Germany, Poland, and France; some platforms are accelerating the “European local production + warehousing” model and building supply chain bases in Turkey and Poland; many platforms have launched an “overseas warehouse stocking subsidy plan”, and sellers who enter the warehouse can enjoy up to 5% logistics fee reduction.
The compliance threshold has been significantly increased at the same time.
In March, new EU regulations defined mainstream cross-border e-commerce platforms as “deemed importers” and bear all legal responsibilities for tariffs and product safety. Violations may result in fines of up to 6% of annual sales.
YouPlatform Europe launched a comprehensive compliance inspection in April 2026. Within a month, more than 20,000 stores were forcibly removed from the shelves because they were unable to provide CE certification and tax compliance certificates.
Starting from 2028, IOSS registration will change from “optional” to “mandatory”, and unregistered packages will face customs clearance blocks.
“Certification used to be a bonus, but now it’s an admission ticket.” Sellers said that compliance certification for a single category requires tens of thousands of yuan, and small and medium-sized sellers are under obvious pressure.
Amidst the pain, profound industrial upgrading is taking place.
A large number of sellers have taken the initiative to eliminate low-customer products with a gross profit margin of less than 30%, and turn to high value-added categories such as 3C digital, smart home, outdoor equipment, new energy, etc. “In the past, it was cheaper to compete, but now we compete to see whose products have more technical content.”
The localization of supply chains is accelerating: many cross-border brands have established clothing supply chains in Turkey, assembly plants in Poland, and logistics centers in Germany. The “Made in Europe + Sales in Europe” model can completely avoid tariff barriers and shorten the delivery cycle.
Brand operation has become a consensus, and sellers can obtain premiums through differentiated design, quality improvement and local services.
In the first quarter of 2026, China’s cross-border e-commerce has grown in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, with a growth rate far exceeding that of Europe.
At the government level, relevant departments have repeatedly communicated with the European side on the new tariff policy. Comprehensive pilot zones in various regions have launched support measures such as public overseas warehouses, compliance training, and risk compensation. Yiwu, Shenzhen and other places have launched “European compliance service packages” to integrate taxation, legal affairs, and certification resources to reduce corporate costs.
Industry experts said that to deal with the impact of Europe’s cancellation of the tax exemption policy for small parcels under 150 euros, Chinese cross-border e-commerce companies can maintain market competitiveness by optimizing supply chains, increasing product added value, deploying overseas warehouses to achieve localized fulfillment, and adjusting pricing strategies to absorb new costs.
Enterprises should seize the three-year transition period to complete three major transformations: the operating model will shift from “direct delivery mainly” to the “warehouse delivery + direct delivery” hybrid model, the product structure will shift from “low price and volume” to “value-driven”, and the comprehensive strength competition will be completed from “price war” to “brand + supply chain + compliance”.
In the restructuring of global trade rules, only by taking the initiative to change and actively adapt can Chinese companies achieve a historic leap from “selling globally” to “branding globally”.
