The haul was never free, someone else just paid the customs. Now the bill is on your screen: the US suspended the 800-dollar de minimis loophole for all countries, and the EU adds a flat three-euro-per-item duty from July 1, 2026.
US spending fell more than ten percent at Shein and more than twenty at Temu. But the money did not go toward buying less. It went sideways, to Zara, American Eagle, Amazon, the fortnight machine changing venue rather than switching off. A small, hopeful exception: some of it turned up at Savers and Nuuly, wearing clothes twice instead of buying them twice.
Don't mistake a duty for a virtue. Three euros does not unmake a throwaway garment or clean up Kantamanto. But a price you can see is a decision you can make.
