The Same Parcel Costs Three Times More in America Than in Europe

V

The Same Parcel Costs Three Times More in America Than in Europe

US de minimis suspension against the EU EUR 3 per-item charge: the same low-value consignment priced both ways, and why the two regimes punish opposite parcels

The US now taxes a low-value parcel by classification and the EU charges it by the item. Priced on the same EUR 300 consignment, the US comes to EUR 91-131 and the EU to EUR 20. Here is the arithmetic, and which parcel each regime punishes.

Oct 7, 2026 · 9 min read · By V · For Both audiences

Each bar is a figure from this article's source list, in EUR. The period is the one stated in the source. Hover a bar for the document it came from.

AI Summary

Both markets ended duty-free treatment for low-value parcels in 2026, in opposite ways. The US taxes by classification, so a parcel pays its HS code’s rate plus Section 301. The EU charges a flat EUR 3 per item plus a EUR 2 fee. On a EUR 300 consignment the US comes to EUR 91-131 and the EU to EUR 20.

What happened

Two markets ended the same exemption in the same year and chose incompatible replacements.

The United States abolished the $800 de minimis exemption and replaced it with ordinary customs treatment. A China-origin postal parcel now pays its Column 1 rate plus any Section 301 list rate, by classification, as the postal route closure analysis sets out. The $80, $160 and $200 per-item postal charges that were expected to become the new regime ran for four days, from 24 to 27 February 2026, and were then withdrawn. From 24 July 2026 the route is classification, and the entry itself has to be filed.

The European Union deleted duty relief for consignments up to EUR 150 and replaced it with a flat EUR 3 customs duty per item, applying to consignments at or below that threshold. A EUR 2 Union handling fee per item follows from 1 November 2026, and unlike the duty it applies including on consignments above EUR 150. The per-item design and its non-refundable character are worked through in the per-item customs charge analysis.

So one regime taxes value, and the other taxes count.

The two designs fail in opposite directions. A per-item charge is volume-based, so it lands hardest on a consignment of many cheap things. An ad valorem charge is value-based, so it lands hardest on a consignment of few expensive things. The same seller can be treated as a small parcel in one market and a large one in the other.

Why now

Because both regimes are mid-transition, and the second EU charge has not started yet.

The EU fee begins on 1 November 2026, which is when the numbers in this article become payable rather than projected. Before that date a seller is comparing a real US charge against a partial EU one, and the comparison flatters Europe by exactly the fee.

The US side is unstable in the other direction. The per-item postal charges were designed, published, and abandoned inside four days in February. The suspension of the exemption was upheld by the Court of International Trade on 13 August 2026, and the statute repeals the exemption outright on 1 July 2027 regardless of any appeal — so the direction is settled even though the current rate depends on classification.

Neither system is a flat rate, which is the part most summaries get wrong. Both articles on this site opened with a per-item figure that no longer exists.

So what

Take a consignment worth EUR 300 and price it in both markets. This is the comparison neither regime’s own documentation makes, because each one only describes itself.

What the consignment is	US charge	EU charge	Larger
EUR 300, one item	$71.54 duty and fees, plus $20–60 entry	EUR 2.00	US, by roughly 35–45×
EUR 300, ten items at EUR 30	$71.54 plus entry, if duty applies to the whole value	EUR 20.00	US
EUR 140, one item	Classification-dependent, no flat route	EUR 5.00	US, unless the rate is very low
EUR 10, three items	Classification-dependent, and entry cost exceeds the goods	EUR 15.00	EU, at 150% of goods value

Read the last row against the first. On a EUR 300 consignment the US charges tens of times more than the EU. On a EUR 10 consignment the EU charges a hundred and fifty per cent of the goods value, and the US charge is dominated not by duty but by the fixed cost of filing an entry at all. The two regimes are not more or less severe versions of each other — they are aimed at different parcels.

Three things follow.

The regime that hurts you depends on your average order value, and it changed sign in 2026. Before this year, low-value parcels entered both markets duty-free, so order value barely mattered for duty. Now a seller whose catalogue is cheap multi-item parcels is worst off in Europe, and a seller whose catalogue is fewer dearer goods is worst off in America.

The EU charge is item-count driven, so consolidation into fewer, dearer items is the lever. A EUR 10 parcel of three items pays EUR 15; the same goods as one item pay EUR 5. The US charge does not respond to that at all, because it follows classification and value.

And on the US side the binding cost is administrative rather than dutiable. The duty on a EUR 10 parcel is trivial; the entry preparation and bond is $20 to $60. Postal informal entry under 19 CFR 145.12 is capped at $2,500 and excludes mail subject to Chapter 98 or Chapter 99 duties. Nearly all Chinese consumer goods carry a Chapter 99 Section 301 code, so they lose that route and need entry type 13 or a formal entry. A parcel whose duty is under a dollar can cost more to clear than to buy.

Also read: Your Parcel Is Getting Cheaper to Clear — and Harder to File

For you

Sellers whose catalogue is low-value multi-item parcels: Europe is now your expensive market, not America. The EUR 3 duty is per item, so a three-item parcel pays three times what a one-item parcel of the same total value pays. Consolidating SKUs into single-item listings, or moving to a single unit per parcel, is the only lever the EU design responds to.
Sellers whose catalogue is fewer, dearer goods: America is your expensive market. The US charge is ad valorem on classification, so it scales with the invoice, and the fixed entry cost is the smaller part once values rise. Check the Section 301 list rate for each HTSUS subheading before pricing, because the base rate alone understates the charge.
Anyone modelling 2027: the US exemption is repealed by statute on 1 July 2027 with no restoration provision, and the EU’s EUR 3 duty is explicitly temporary pending a permanent system. Both numbers in this article are therefore interim, and the EU one is guaranteed to change.
Anyone with EU sales above EUR 150: the EUR 3 duty does not apply, but the EUR 2 handling fee does. That asymmetry means the fee is the only charge that reaches every EU consignment regardless of value, and it is the one to build into pricing now rather than in November.

The data point

Data point

On a EUR 300 consignment the US charge is $71.54 in duty and fees plus $20–60 in entry costs, against EUR 2.00 in the EU. On a EUR 10 consignment of three items the EU charge is EUR 15.00 — 150 per cent of the goods value — while the US charge is set by classification and by an entry cost that exceeds the goods.

How we calculated this

Every rate is published; the consignment value and item count are yours. The US side is ad valorem and the EU side is per item, so the two need different inputs, which is the whole point.

US charge  = value x (Column 1 rate + Section 301 list rate + MPF 0.3464%) + entry cost
$91.54-131.54 = $300 x (16.0% + 7.5% + 0.3464%) + $20 to $60

EU charge  = (EUR 3 duty per item, only at or below EUR 150) + (EUR 2 fee per item, always)
EUR 15.00  = 3 items x EUR 3  +  3 items x EUR 2
EUR 20.00  = 10 items x EUR 2, over the EUR 150 threshold, so no duty but the fee still applies

Substitute your own average order value and items per parcel. On the EU side the count is the input that matters; on the US side it is the value and the classification, and the count does not enter at all.

The point

Both markets did the same thing in 2026 — they ended duty-free treatment for small parcels — and the similarity stops there. One taxes what a thing is worth, the other taxes how many things there are. That difference is larger than the difference in severity, and it means the question “which market is more expensive” has no general answer.

The practical version of the question does have an answer, and it is per seller: take your average parcel and price it both ways. The second EU charge starts on 1 November 2026 and the first US change has already survived a court challenge, so neither is speculative any more. The only number that is still yours to choose is how your catalogue is packed.

FAQ

Which is more expensive for a Chinese seller shipping low-value parcels, the US or the EU?

It depends on the shape of the parcel, not on the market alone. On a EUR 300 consignment the US charge is roughly $91.54 to $131.54 against EUR 2.00 in the EU, so America is far more expensive. On a EUR 10 parcel of three items the EU charge is EUR 15.00, which is 150 per cent of the goods value, while the US charge is driven by an entry cost of $20 to $60 that exceeds the goods. Cheap multi-item parcels are worst off in Europe; fewer dearer parcels are worst off in America.

Why is the EU charge per item rather than a percentage?

Because it is designed as a flat provisional duty while a permanent system is built, and a flat amount has to be attached to a unit. Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 sets EUR 3 per item for consignments at or below EUR 150, and Regulation (EU) 2026/2108 adds a EUR 2 handling fee per item from 1 November 2026. The fee applies even above EUR 150, where the duty does not. That makes item count the single input that drives the EU charge, which is why consolidating a parcel into fewer items reduces it.

Does the US still have a per-item postal charge?

No. The $80, $160 and $200 per-item postal charges were expected to become the new regime and ran for four days, from 24 to 27 February 2026, before being withdrawn. From 24 July 2026 a China-origin postal parcel pays its Column 1 duty plus any Section 301 list rate by classification, and the entry has to be filed. The per-item design still exists on the EU side; on the US side it was abandoned within a week of starting.

What should I check first before repricing for either market?

Your own average order value and items per parcel, because they decide which regime binds. Then the classification question on the US side, since the base rate alone understates the charge once a Section 301 list rate applies, and Section 301 is why nearly all Chinese consumer goods lose access to postal informal entry under 19 CFR 145.12. On the EU side, confirm whether your consignments sit above or below EUR 150, because that decides whether the EUR 3 duty applies at all while the EUR 2 fee applies either way.

Sources

Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382, Articles 1 and 2
Regulation (EU) 2026/2108, Article 20, Union handling fee
HTSUS Column 1 general rates; Section 301 list rates
CBP interim final rule, 91 FR 38007, postal informal entry
Pub. L. 119-21, repeal of the de minimis exemption
Landed Math per-item charge model and low-value parcel model

How this was made

Research and drafting are tool-assisted. Every figure is traced to a named primary source and checked against it, each article clears a structural review and an information-gain review before publication, and corrections are recorded in a dated note above. The review process is described on the about page.