00:03Welcome to The Cube, Euronews' fact-checking show.
00:06Shopping on Shein, Team Euro, Amazon is now more expensive in the EU.
00:10That's the claim that's been circulating since the 1st of July.
00:13The European Commission has introduced a temporary €3 duty on low-value parcels
00:18entering the EU from outside the block, and it applies to each distinct item type
00:22worth up to €150 that is bought online and shipped directly to consumers.
00:28Brussels says it's about creating fairer competition for European businesses.
00:32Critics argue consumers will end up footing the bill.
00:36The European Commission told us that consumers are not legally responsible for paying the duty,
00:41and that it's up to sellers to decide how they will absorb the cost.
00:44So while it's true that customers are not legally required to pay the extra duty,
00:48according to Euro consumers, the reality may be very different in practice.
00:53As Olivia Brown told us, when a new cost is added anywhere in the supply chain,
00:58companies rarely absorb it entirely.
01:00Instead, it often ends up being passed on to consumers.
01:03We put it to the test by ordering a product on Amazon from outside the EU to Belgium.
01:08At checkout, the platform added an import charges duty of €3 on the item ordered.
01:14But some platforms, including Team Euro and Amazon,
01:17are reducing the impact of the new rules by shipping goods from warehouses already located inside the EU.
01:23So Team Euro put goods themselves in local warehouses.
01:26They come by boat and they are imported in bulk.
01:29And these web shops pay wholesale prices, not retail prices on what the value for the consumer is,
01:35but wholesale prices.
01:37And that means that it's much lower than the taxes that they would have to pay on the packages
01:42if they go straight to the consumer.
01:44So basically, they've been preparing for this.
01:46This reform is temporary and will apply until the 1st of July, 2028,
01:50ahead of the EU customs reform,
01:52when a new customs system is expected to replace it.
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