The European Union has decided to impose a fixed tariff on small international purchases, a measure that makes products like comics or magazines more expensive for the average citizen. The excuse is to protect local industry, but in reality it punishes consumers and small cultural publications without addressing the real problem: the dumping by giants like Shein or Temu, which circumvent labor and environmental regulations.
Tax technology: progressive taxes based on sales 📊
Instead of applying fixed rates that double the cost of a 20-euro shipment, the technical solution would be to implement a progressive tax on the sales volume of large platforms. For example, a 2% levy on annual revenues exceeding 100 million euros in the EU. This would force Shein and Temu to internalize social and environmental costs, without penalizing the small buyer who purchases a fanzine or a technical magazine.
Brussels discovers the power of comics as an industrial threat 🎭
So, according to the EU, a package with a 10-euro comic is more dangerous for European industry than a Shein container with 500 polyester dresses. The logic is impeccable: better to tax the geek who buys their favorite comic than to set limits on those selling 3-euro t-shirts made under dubious conditions. Thus, while the citizen foots the bill, the big platforms keep laughing all the way to customs.