Once the €3 charge kicked in for sub-€150 parcels in July, traffic through Belgium's main gateway shifted quickly. The levy pulled in around €224 million in its first seven weeks of operation. Belgium's customs service said small parcel arrivals at Liege fell 53% in July 2026 compared with a year earlier, following a rush of shipments before the fee took effect. In Liege on Thursday, Belgian Finance Minister Jan Jambon said to reporters, "The first results show we're moving in the right direction."
The flat charge targets a flood of low-cost goods from sites like Temu and Shein that had been entering the bloc without tariffs. Officials designed it as a temporary fix until a permanent customs setup arrives in 2028.
Parcels are just one piece of a wider EU-China trade tussle. Brussels and Beijing set an October deadline to confront record trade imbalances. European leaders point to overcapacity and unfair trading practices; Beijing disputes those claims.
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If deliveries feel slower or pricier, that is policy showing up at your doorstep. Liege remains a massive conduit for online orders into the bloc, averaging 153 million small parcels per month from January to June 2026. If the fee keeps trimming volumes, sellers may rethink routing and pricing, which can affect what you pay and how fast those impulse buys arrive.
