Germany and Austria are joining other EU countries in campaigning for greater control over online retailers such as Chinese companies Temu and Shein. “We can no longer accept that hundreds of thousands of parcels arrive every day with products that do not meet European standards,” German State Secretary Sven Giegold (Greens) said in Brussels.
Together with Austria, Poland, Denmark, the Netherlands and France, the German federal government is urging the European Commission to consistently impose fines if online retailers do not comply with the applicable rules and, for example, do nothing when products on their sites are classified as unsafe. In Austria, the industry association and the Chamber of Commerce are calling for more measures to restore “fair competition” with Chinese online retailers.
Kocher for lowering or abolishing the tax-free limit
Economics Minister Martin Kocher (ÖVP) is in favor of lowering or abolishing the duty-free threshold of 150 euros for products imported into the European Union (EU). Otherwise, competition between European online trading platforms and those outside Europe (including Temu, Shein) would be distorted, Kocher said on Thursday ahead of the EU Competition Council in Brussels. In view of the planned phasing out of combustion engines in 2035, technology neutrality is important.
Shein and Temu are very popular in Germany and Austria. This is mainly due to the low prices. However, the portals are controversial. Representatives, politicians and consumer advocates criticize, among other things, the product quality, a lack of controls and unfair competition conditions. “This concerns environmental law, this concerns consumer law and of course this also applies to issues such as data protection and intellectual property rights,” says Giegold. The platforms reject such accusations.
The states propose to detect and punish violations through extensive data collection and closer cooperation between authorities. According to the Cologne retail research institute IFH, 43 percent of consumers in Germany buy from marketplaces such as Temu and Shein. According to the industry association BEVH, five percent of orders in German online retail come from the two providers. Within a year, they are said to have more than doubled their market share.
According to the industry association, the popularity of Asian online retailers and marketplaces in Austria is growing steadily. Three quarters of the Austrian population already know AliExpress/Alibaba (71 percent) and about half Shein (52 percent) and Temu (50 percent). According to the industry association APA, this brand awareness is mainly built up through paid advertising on social media and search engines. According to the industry association, usage is also high, especially with Shein. According to estimates, fashion retailer Shein is already used by 42 percent of 15 to 27 year olds and 10 percent of people over 50. 42 percent of young Austrians have also ordered from Temu, and the trend is rising sharply.
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.
