🇪🇺 The EU's €150 duty exemption is gone: time to rethink low-price products

Published 2026-07-24 · 2 min read

How this differs from the US and Vietnam

When the US (August 2025) and Vietnam (February 2025) scrapped their de minimis rules, they simply applied their normal percentage duty rates to every parcel, regardless of value. The EU took another route: rather than a percentage, it charges a small fixed amount per item (about €3).

Take a $50 product:

• Under the US/Vietnam approach, you pay $50 × the duty rate.
• Under the EU approach, you pay a flat duty of about €3 whatever the price (plus the VAT that was already there).

So for cheap goods, the EU change hurts less than the US one. It's still a new cost compared with the old "duty-free under €150" rule, and on very thin-margin items selling for a few euros, a flat €3 can eat most of the profit.

Checking it in the calculator

In the calculator, choose an EU marketplace such as Amazon EU and the customs status shows "🚨 EU de minimis abolished" instead of "✅ Duty-free". Because the EU fee is flat while our formula works in percentages, treat the duty figure as a guide and keep in mind the real charge is closer to €3 per item.

⚠️ Researched as of July 24, 2026. Duty and VAT depend on the HS classification and the member state. Confirm with a customs broker or official EU customs guidance.