EU €3 Customs Duty on AliExpress Orders (2026 Guide)

Since 1 July 2026, parcels from outside the EU worth up to €150 are no longer duty-free: the EU charges a flat €3 customs duty for each product category in the parcel. If you dropship from AliExpress to European customers, this lands straight on your margin. This guide explains how the duty is calculated, what changes for your orders and how to protect your profit.

What changed on 1 July 2026

Until June 2026, low-value imports were exempt from customs duty (VAT was still due). Now the EU applies a temporary flat duty of €3 to those parcels. It is charged per item category based on tariff classification, not per unit, and the seller or importer is responsible for declaring and paying it. How AliExpress passes that cost on (built into the price or added at checkout) can change, so always check the final price in your supplier order.

How the €3 is calculated

The duty depends on the customs tariff classification of the goods, not on the categories of your shop. Identical or very similar products share one classification; different types of product do not.

The first two rows are the examples given by the European Commission; the third follows the same rule.

What it means for dropshippers

• Cheap single items suffer most: €3 on a €6 product is a 50% cost increase before shipping.
• Mixed orders cost more: every extra category adds €3, so a customer who buys three different products can cost you €9 in duty.
• Splitting does not help: the duty applies to each parcel, so an order that AliExpress ships in several parcels can pay it several times.
• It affects deliveries into the EU. Check the rules of any other country you sell to.

How to protect your margin

1. 1Add the duty to your prices: update your price rules so that low-priced products still leave a margin after €3.
2. 2Prefer products stocked in EU warehouses: goods already in the EU are not imported with the parcel, so this duty generally does not apply. See AliExpress shipping times and options for how local warehouses appear when you import.
3. 3Sell bundles of the same type of product (for example a pack of two cases): one category means one €3 duty, however many units.
4. 4Review products whose price is below €10 and decide whether they still make sense, or raise the price or the free-shipping threshold.
5. 5Be transparent: mention possible import costs and the delivery window in your shipping policy, so customers are not surprised.