CHINA BUYER NOTESGuides
Logistics · Updated November 2026

Will You Pay Customs on a Parcel From China?

In 2026 the answer is usually yes. The US suspended its $800 allowance, the EU ended its €150 duty exemption on 1 July 2026, and only a few markets still let a small parcel through untaxed. Here is what actually gets charged, country by country, and how the number is worked out.

Editorial guide, not legal or tax advice. Duty rates and thresholds change with little notice — confirm the current figure with your carrier or customs authority before you order.

SuspendedUS $800 de minimis
Ended 1 Jul 2026EU €150 duty relief
£135UK duty relief still live
€3 / subheadingEU interim flat duty

01Three charges, not one

People say “customs” as if it were a single bill. It is usually three separate things, and only one of them is duty.

Customs duty

A percentage of the customs value, set by the product’s tariff code and the trade relationship between the two countries. Clothing, shoes, bags and watches sit in relatively high bands; electronics are often lower.

Import VAT or GST

Charged on value plus duty plus (in most markets) the freight. This is the bigger number in the EU and UK — 19–21% is normal in the eurozone, 20% in the UK.

Clearance or handling fee

Charged by the carrier or the broker for filing the entry: a flat fee per parcel, or a percentage with a minimum. It appears even when the duty itself is zero.

Why this matters for the total: a €60 hoodie can land with a duty charge of a few euros and a VAT-and-fee charge of €18–20. Budget 25–35% on top of the goods value for EU and UK deliveries once everything is counted.

02Country-by-country in 2026

The old headline numbers ($800, €150, £135) are widely repeated online and most of them are now out of date. This is the position as of November 2026.

DestinationLow-value reliefWhat it means in practice
United States Suspended. $800 no longer applies. China and Hong Kong origin lost the allowance on 2 May 2025; it was extended worldwide on 29 August 2025. Every parcel is now dutiable. Postal shipments may be charged a flat per-item fee instead of a percentage during the transition. Section 301 additional duties can stack on top for China-origin goods.
European Union Ended 1 July 2026. Under Regulation (EU) 2026/382 the €150 duty exemption is gone. Consignments up to €150 pay an interim flat €3 per distinct tariff subheading — so a tee and a watch in one box is two subheadings, €6. Import VAT has applied since July 2021 and is usually collected at checkout through IOSS.
United Kingdom £135 duty relief still available. Qualifying consignments at or below £135 can still clear without customs duty. This is duty relief, not VAT relief: VAT is normally collected at the point of sale. Removal has been signalled for around 2028–2029, not yet in force.
Canada CAD $20 duty / $40 tax One of the lowest thresholds anywhere. Practically every parcel is dutiable, and the courier adds a brokerage fee on top.
Australia AUD $1,000 duty-free Duty rarely bites on personal parcels, but GST is collected by the seller on low-value imports, so the tax is already inside the price you pay.
Japan ¥10,000 The general allowance is ¥10,000, but clothing and footwear are assessed at a much lower threshold, so apparel parcels are commonly taxed even when small.

Thresholds above describe ordinary personal or commercial parcels. Gifts, excise goods (alcohol, tobacco, perfume) and controlled items follow separate rules and are usually outside any allowance.

03How the number is calculated

Four inputs decide the bill. Only the first one is under your influence, and only within the law.

  1. Customs value

    Usually the price you actually paid for the goods, converted to local currency at the official rate. Freight and insurance are added in most markets — the EU and UK include them, the US treatment depends on the entry type.

  2. Tariff classification

    Each product maps to an HS code, and each code carries its own duty rate. A cotton t-shirt, a synthetic hoodie and a leather bag are three different rates even though all three are “clothing” to a shopper.

  3. Origin

    Duty rates are set per origin country, and additional trade measures can apply on top of the base rate. Re-routing a parcel through a third country does not change origin — the goods are still made where they were made.

  4. Collection route

    Postal, express courier and consolidated line each clear differently, quote differently and charge different handling fees for the same parcel.

Worked example (EU, November 2026): a €120 jacket shipped to Germany. Duty: €3 interim flat charge (one subheading, consignment under €150). Import VAT at 19% on roughly €145 including freight: about €27.50. Carrier handling: €6–€15 depending on the line. Total on delivery: roughly €37–€46.

04Who pays, and when

“Tax included” and “tax on delivery” are the two endings to every parcel, and they are priced differently.

Route typeWho settles the chargeWhat to expect
DDP / tax-inclusive lineThe line or agent, inside the freight priceHigher freight quote, nothing to pay at the door. Clearance is handled for you. This is what most dedicated “tax prepaid” EU and UK lines do.
DDU / standard postalYou, on delivery or by invoiceCheaper upfront, unpredictable at the door. The carrier may hold the parcel until the charge and its fee are paid.
Triangle routingThe lineGoods move through a third country with EU or UK VAT prepaid. Duty treatment depends on the specific routing and is not a way around origin rules.

Ask one question before paying freight: “Is duty and VAT included in this price, and will I be asked for money on delivery?” If the answer is vague, assume you will pay at the door.

05The risk nobody prices in

Beyond duty, customs also enforces intellectual property and product safety. That is where parcels get seized instead of taxed.

Branded goods without authorisation are treated as infringing goods in the EU, UK and US. A customs officer who recognises a logo can detain the parcel, and the rights holder decides whether to consent to release. The typical outcome is destruction of the goods, no compensation for the goods, and no refund of the freight you already paid. Duty is a cost; seizure is a total loss.

This is the one risk that no shipping-line choice removes. The practical mitigations are unglamorous: order in quantities that look like personal use, avoid mixed parcels that combine many high-recognition brands, and understand that a low declared value does not create protection — undervaluation is itself a customs offence and is a common reason parcels get opened.

If a parcel is stopped, the decision rests with the destination authority, not with the agent or the seller. No platform can guarantee release, and any that does is guessing.

06Five things that reduce surprises

  1. Get a landed-cost quote, not a freight quote

    Ask for goods + freight + duty + VAT as one number for your country. A freight quote alone tells you half the story.

  2. Ship one clean parcel rather than three small ones

    Every parcel carries its own handling fee and, in the EU, its own flat interim duty. Consolidating inside the warehouse usually beats splitting to stay under a threshold that may no longer exist.

  3. Check the tariff band before you commit

    Leather bags, watches, shoes and outerwear carry higher duty than tees or accessories. When the budget is tight, the category you choose changes the landed price.

  4. Keep the invoice

    If a value is challenged, a payment record beats a screenshot of a listing. It is also what you need if you claim on insurance.

  5. Never treat the declared value as a lever

    Under-declaring shifts risk onto you for a saving that is smaller than the fine, and it voids most insurance claims.

If you are still choosing a line, the freight side is covered in the shipping cost guide — volumetric weight, line types and realistic transit times.

Read the shipping cost guide →

07Questions people actually ask

Is there any way to avoid duty legally?
Only by using a relief that genuinely applies to you: a remaining low-value allowance such as the UK’s £135 duty relief, a personal allowance when you carry goods yourself, or a returned-goods procedure. For ordinary parcels into the US or EU in 2026 there is no legal route around duty. Any seller offering to “mark it as a gift” is asking you to take the risk.
Will I be charged on a parcel worth less than €150 into the EU?
Yes, but not at the full rate. The €150 duty exemption ended on 1 July 2026. Consignments up to €150 fall under interim rules with a flat €3 per distinct tariff subheading, plus import VAT. The flat charge applies per subheading, not per item: five identical tees are one subheading, a tee plus a watch is two.
Does the freight cost count towards the value?
In the EU and UK, yes — duty and VAT are normally calculated on goods plus transport and insurance. In the US it depends on the entry type. This is why two buyers with identical orders can see different bills: the shipping method changes the customs value.
Who pays if the parcel is shipped DDP?
The line settles it inside the freight price, so you pay once at checkout. Confirm in writing that the quote is DDP and that no further charge will be collected on delivery — some cheap “tax included” quotes cover VAT but not duty.
What happens if the parcel is seized?
You normally lose the goods and the freight. Some lines compensate a limited amount if the seizure is not connected to prohibited or infringing goods, which is why line terms matter more than the headline freight price. Compensation for counterfeit goods is essentially never paid.
Do watches and bags cost more to import than clothes?
Often, yes. Leather goods, watches and footwear usually sit in higher duty bands than cotton tees, and watches can attract additional excise treatment in some markets. Check the tariff band for the specific product rather than the category name.

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Duty depends on the category — check the tariff band before you order:

ShoesHoodiesT-ShirtsJacketsPantsBagsWatchesAccessories