Poland demands tariffs on the products from Temu and Shein, while the brands, which produce in China, have ambitious plans to expand across borders, announces Ziarul Financiar.
Poland and five other countries in the European Union have targeted China’s online sales platforms, Warsaw Voice writes.
They want tariffs on the products purchased through the respective platforms, platforms that conquer the market bypassing regulations and commissions.
Unfair competition
Germany, supported by Poland, Austria, Denmark, France and the Netherlands, is behind this initiative. These countries have asked the European Commission to adopt a whole package of measures aimed at combating what they see as unfair competition from a growing number of Chinese platforms.
In their letter to the Commission, they show that both Temu and Shein have already been recognized by the Commission as very large online platforms.
Thus, they have special obligations regarding, for example, the control of the legality of the products sold through them. And this also means compliance with European quality or safety standards.
Imposition of VAT on products supplied by Temu and Shein
Some countries are asking the Commission to start rigorously enforcing these rules against Chinese platforms. To this end, they first propose that Brussels start collecting and digitizing all information available in member countries regarding the violation of the law by Chinese platforms.
This will allow the determination of the extent of violations and the imposition of sanctions. The respective countries also want to increase the competences of the national authorities for the supervision of electronic commerce and strengthen the coordination between them.
The six countries also want an analysis of the type of personal data that the respective platforms collect and how it is managed and demand the removal of the amount exempted from customs duties, currently equivalent to 150 euros, and the imposition of VAT on products provided by Temu and Shein.
A recent Zalando study shows that more than half of Polish fashion companies that sell online are already present across borders, and 20% of them plan to expand to more countries.
A strong focus on Europe is evident, with almost three-quarters of the companies included in the study declaring that they only consider EU countries when considering external expansion. For more than half of the companies surveyed, online sales in foreign markets equals higher profits and an increasing number of customers.
The problem of the respective brands is of course the extinction of Chinese platforms like Temu and Shein. The Polish Ministry of Development and Technology has already sent letters to platforms in China informing them of concerns about their activities.
And in Hungary, the antitrust authorities launched investigations against Temu in the winter, according to Hungary Today.
Source: www.descopera.ro
