The EU will impose a rate of EUR 3 from July on purchases made on the Shein and Temu platforms

European Union Finance Ministers (Ecofin) have reached an agreement this Friday to imposea tax on low-value products di  3 euros, especially in the case of online purchases through low-cost platforms (Shein and Temu).

The measure will be in force until the entry into force of the final tariff reform planned for 2028, with which the EU intends to put an end to the tariff exemption of products worth less than EUR 150, which was agreed by the EU delegations in November.

Thus,theEuropean Union intends to combat the 'unfair competition' that these purchases entail, which creates' certain risks' to the consumption of citizens, such as high levels of fraud and risks to the health and safety of consumers, the Council said in a statement.

In particular, the EUR 3 ratewill apply to all non-EU sellers for VAT purposes, which in practice accounts for 93% of all e-commerce flows to the EU.

According to the Commission's data, approximately 4.6 billion goods were shipped last year, which means 12 million packages were entered a day without tariffs because they were not worth more than EUR 150.

On arrival at the meeting, the Minister of Economy, Trade and Enterprise, Carlos Cuerpo, has valued the ability to "tax" low-value products in order to "control the flow" of such purchases.