Italy’s €2 tax on parcels under €150 from outside the EU has spectacularly backfired, with cargo flights from China now landing in Poland, Netherlands, and Germany instead of Milan or Rome. Italian airports and logistics companies are losing billions as Shein, Temu, and other e-commerce shipments bypass Italy entirely—while your orders face no delays because carriers simply reroute through countries without the tax.
What Did Italy Actually Do?
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government implemented a €2 handling fee on every parcel valued under €150 arriving from non-EU countries, effective January 1, 2026. The policy targeted Chinese e-commerce giants Shein and Temu, whose ultra-cheap fashion and electronics have flooded European markets, allegedly undercutting Italian retailers and dodging proper customs scrutiny through undervalued declarations.
The government projected the tax would raise €123 million in 2026, climbing to €245 million annually thereafter, while simultaneously protecting domestic businesses from what officials characterized as unfair competition. Italian textile manufacturers and fashion retailers had lobbied intensely for action against Chinese platforms they claimed were destroying their businesses through impossibly low prices enabled by exploiting customs exemptions.
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SubscribeHowever, Italy made a critical miscalculation: the €2 tax applies only to parcels entering Italy, not the entire European Union. Once goods clear customs anywhere in the EU’s borderless Schengen zone, they can move freely to any member state without additional checks. This created obvious arbitrage opportunity where logistics companies simply land cargo planes in neighboring countries, clear customs there, then truck parcels to Italian addresses—avoiding Italy’s €2 fee entirely while adding minimal transportation costs.
Why Are Billions Fleeing to Poland?
Within weeks of implementation, Italian airport operators and logistics companies reported catastrophic volume declines as international carriers rerouted flights to avoid the surcharge. Valentina Menin, director-general of Assaeroporti representing 32 Italian airports including cargo hub Milan Malpensa, warned the measure created a “boomerang effect” with “the entire Italian logistics sector losing business.”
Poland emerged as primary beneficiary, with Warsaw Chopin Airport and Katowice cargo facilities reporting dramatic increases in Chinese freight volumes previously destined for Italy. Polish customs authorities, lacking Italy’s €2 fee, process the same parcels at standard rates while Polish logistics companies earn lucrative contracts trucking goods to Italian consumers—work previously performed by Italian truckers serving Italian airports.
The Netherlands and Germany captured additional diverted traffic, with Amsterdam Schiphol and Leipzig/Halle airports seeing increases in Chinese e-commerce cargo. The economic impact cascades beyond immediate landing fees and handling charges—Italian airports lose fuel sales, labor income disappears, warehouse occupancy drops, and customs brokerage firms face declining business as the work shifts to neighboring countries.
Industry estimates suggest Italy will lose €2-3 billion annually in economic activity from diverted cargo operations—dwarfing the €245 million the tax was supposed to generate. The mathematics prove devastating: for every €2 collected in parcel taxes, Italy sacrifices €10-15 in broader economic value from aviation, logistics, and related services. It’s economic self-harm dressed as consumer protection.
What Happens to Your Shein Orders?
Short answer: Absolutely nothing changes for consumers. Your Shein dress, Temu electronics, or AliExpress gadgets arrive exactly as before, at the same prices, within the same timeframes. The rerouting adds perhaps 12-24 hours to delivery as trucks drive from Poland or Netherlands to Italy instead of direct airport-to-doorstep delivery, but most consumers won’t notice even this minor delay.
Shein and Temu haven’t raised Italian prices to cover the tax because they’re not paying it—their logistics partners simply adjusted routing to bypass Italian customs entirely. The platforms’ sophisticated operations teams identified the workaround within days of the tax’s implementation, shifting fulfillment patterns to maintain service levels and pricing that attracted customers initially.
This consumer invisibility makes the policy failure even more politically damaging for Meloni’s government. If Italian shoppers experienced delivery delays or price increases, they might credit the government with “doing something” about Chinese competition even if disagreeing with the approach. Instead, Chinese platforms continue seamlessly serving Italian customers while Italian logistics workers lose jobs and airports lose revenue—visible economic pain without any policy achievement to justify it.
Why This Reveals EU Single Market Problems
Italy’s debacle illustrates fundamental tension in European integration: member states retain policy autonomy in areas like taxation and customs procedures, yet the borderless single market means unilateral national policies often prove unenforceable or counterproductive when goods and services flow freely across internal borders.
The prisoner’s dilemma emerges where individual countries cannot effectively regulate cross-border commerce without collective EU action. Italy acting alone simply pushes business to neighbors who welcome the diverted economic activity. If Italy, Poland, Netherlands, Germany, and France simultaneously implemented identical €2 parcel taxes, logistics companies couldn’t arbitrage between jurisdictions—but coordinating 27 EU members on controversial consumer policy proves politically impossible.
The race to the bottom becomes inevitable as Eastern European countries recognize they can attract logistics investment and jobs by maintaining business-friendly customs regimes while Western neighbors impose restrictive policies. Poland didn’t need to actively recruit Chinese cargo flights—they arrived automatically once Italy made itself economically unattractive. This creates competitive dynamics where countries optimize for short-term business attraction rather than collective policy goals.
The Brussels dimension adds complexity as the European Commission plans EU-wide measures addressing the same e-commerce concerns that motivated Italy’s unilateral action. A €3 customs duty on all parcels under €150 entering the EU takes effect July 1, 2026—just six months after Italy’s failed attempt. Had Italy waited for coordinated EU action instead of rushing ahead independently, it would have achieved its policy objectives without economic self-harm.
What Happens Next?
Italian officials face impossible choices: admit failure and repeal the tax (political humiliation), maintain the tax despite economic damage (stubborn irrationality), or pressure the EU to accelerate bloc-wide implementation that eliminates arbitrage opportunities. Early signals suggest the government will quietly allow the tax to remain on the books while not enforcing it aggressively—tacit acknowledgment of failure without explicit admission.
Other EU countries are watching carefully, with several having considered similar national measures. France proposed comparable parcel fees before backing away, recognizing the same jurisdictional arbitrage problems that undermined Italy. The Italian experience now provides definitive evidence that individual member states cannot effectively regulate cross-border e-commerce through unilateral customs measures—a lesson that will likely prevent copycat policies elsewhere.
The July EU-wide implementation becomes even more critical as the only viable approach to addressing concerns about Chinese e-commerce platforms. If properly designed and simultaneously applied across all 27 member states, the €3 customs duty will eliminate the jurisdictional arbitrage that doomed Italy’s attempt. However, implementation challenges remain enormous as customs authorities across Europe must coordinate processes, share data, and enforce consistently—capabilities that current EU customs infrastructure struggles to provide.
Polish and Dutch logistics companies are rapidly expanding capacity to handle diverted Italian cargo, suggesting they expect the new traffic patterns to persist. Even if Italy repeals its tax or the EU implements bloc-wide measures eliminating the arbitrage opportunity, supply chain inertia means operations shifted away from Italy may never fully return. Once logistics networks establish new routing patterns and physical infrastructure in alternative locations, reversing those changes requires substantial investment and offers limited competitive advantage.
Key Takeaways
✓ Italy’s €2 parcel tax drives cargo flights to Poland, Netherlands, and Germany as logistics companies exploit EU’s borderless market to bypass the fee entirely while still delivering to Italian consumers ✓ Italian airports and logistics sector lose an estimated €2-3 billion annually in economic activity—more than 10x the €245 million the tax was supposed to generate ✓ Shein and Temu customers see zero impact on prices or delivery times as platforms seamlessly reroute shipments through neighboring countries, making the policy invisible to consumers ✓ The failure demonstrates why unilateral national policies cannot regulate cross-border e-commerce in the EU’s single market without coordinated bloc-wide action ✓ EU’s €3 customs duty beginning July 2026 represents the only viable approach, though Italy’s economic damage may prove permanent as logistics networks establish new patterns avoiding Italian infrastructure
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