Shoes delivered directly to your home in Vienna-Favoriten for eight euros: “This is a catastrophe. This development will destroy our quality of life!” With these drastic words, the chairman of the industry association, Stephan Mayer-Heinisch, warns of the “avalanche of cheap goods from China”, which is growing ever larger.
Both consumers and politicians need to wake up and become aware of this “huge problem,” Mayer-Heinisch said in an interview with the “Krone.” “The retail sector is under pressure, energy, rent and personnel costs have increased, there have been long-term losses due to Covid – and now large Chinese internet platforms like Temu and Shein are flooding the market in Hungary and Belgium.” For example, jumbo jets with millions of packages from China land every day.
Up to 40,000 parcels daily!
The figures are alarming: “Every year, two billion parcels arrive in Europe duty-free and tax-free. In Germany, that’s 300 million, in Austria an estimated ten million – that’s 30,000 to 40,000 parcels per day!”
“This is an incredible competitive advantage”
The Chinese giants don’t have to worry about taxes, customs duties, disposal fees and the like, while retailers are faced with increasing regulations and bureaucracy. “Each of these platforms generates more revenue than Zalando, H&M and Zara combined. They are real monsters.”
Now TikTok is also planning a new shopping platform. “And they have the added benefit of having 132 million addresses in Europe. That’s an incredible competitive advantage.”
“The corset of national and EU regulations is getting tighter and tighter. Half of Austrian retailers already see the biggest challenge in implementing sustainability in finding out what is legally required. “Politicians must therefore simplify the bureaucratic jungle in order to support small and medium-sized companies in particular,” demands the chairman of the industry association.
“Places like Deutschlandsberg and Linz and Feldbach empty”
“As a result of this development, urban and local structures are being destroyed. In recent years, we have had to accept 5,000 to 6,000 bankruptcies per year – and suddenly places like Deutschlandsberg, Linz and Feldbach are empty. There is a great economic danger.” The young people can no longer find a quality of life and move on. “We cannot allow that, we have to fight against it.”
Instead of relief, the EU is causing even more problems, such as the Supply Chain Act. “Probably with very good intentions, but again with extra regulations.”
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
