Apologies if this has been discussed here before (I didn’t find anything), but do you think there’s a risk that future rules for customs duty will unreasonably increase the cost of ordering small parts from abroad – especially electronic components? And if so, should we be gearing up to protest?
I’m taking my cue from Richard of Learn Electronics Repair: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ryF4vvbAgw. He’s based in the Canary Islands, and he believes that the EU is about to do away with the current (“de minimis”) rules and apply a flat €3 fee to each imported item or group of items. It sounds complicated and expensive.
Is that video a fair summary of the EU position, and is there a chance the UK will do something similar in the future?
I’ve been watching those videos with concern too. AI says the UK IS following suit in terms of scrapping the £135 limit, but not for a couple of years. We should watch out for the relevant consultations and mount a campaign to get our voices heard to ensure we don’t get the same debacle.
Just linking to a mention of this that @Andrew_Gabriel made on another topic. But good for it to have its own thread here - thanks for starting it @Charles_Butcher .
In last year’s budget, Rachel Reeves said the changes were to be introduced at the latest in April 2027, but aiming to do so much sooner. Earlier this year, retailers put pressure on (mainly clothing retailers) saying the cheap imports from China were wrecking their business, and Rachel Reeves said they’d introduce it much sooner.
Interesting to see in that video that AliExpress are trying to do the duty charge collection. That’s not how it works in the UK last time I ordered something which required a duty payment. The delivery company (Royal Mail, ParcelForce, EVRi, DHL, etc) collect the duty before they will deliver, and charge an extra fee on top (£12 per package last time) to do so. So you have that on top of whatever the duty charge is.
Bare in mind this will also impact local Amazon prices, as much of the similar stuff on Amazon was also imported from China.
If it happens like that it’ll kill a lot of ebay, Ali and chunks of Amazon stone dead. We hardly have any electronics retailers left in this country, and the big ones charge an arm and a leg with minimum orders and shipping fees that basically mean fixing a lot of things will just become totally uneconomical.
Last time I ordered from Farnell, it didn’t come from this country.
Oh I forget, there was to be the duty charge, and also a new customs handling charge, although this was going to go out for consultation (no idea if that’s happened).
The thing is that this makes it economically viable for domestic companies (even if they are only bulk importers) to compete with aliexpress.
Given the direction aliexpress et. al are going, I suspect they will increase warehouse holdings in Europe and the UK as a result of this. Aliexpress already have a delivery fee which is waived over £8 so I’m quite used to waiting until I have £10-20 in the cart before actually buying anything.
I think it will injure the chinese companies, but I’m not entirely convinced it will be disastrous for them.