UK Retailers Brace for EU E-Commerce Fee Fallout: Supply Lines

Starting July 1, European Union consumers face a new €3 surcharge on cheap e-commerce items purchased mostly from China, but UK retailers like John Jones in Hereford, England, are worried they’ll suffer, too.

That’s because by the middle of next week, the EU will end its de minimis exemption allowing tariff-free flows of products under €150 ($172) — a temporary move in a broader modernization through 2028 of a customs regime swamped by nearly 6 billion e-commerce packages last year. An additional handling fee estimated to be €2 per item is expected to kick in by Nov. 1.

The goal ...