Temu EU Import Fees & Customs Charges, Explained

Q: What does "Temu covers a % of import charges" mean at checkout?

It's a personalised promotion shown on some Temu EU orders, where Temu discounts the import-charge line itself before you pay. Temu says the amount is set 'using automated decision-making', so the rate varies by account: we saw 40% in the German store in September 2026, and other shoppers have been shown different rates. When it appears it is capped at €20 per order, only applies to orders over about €30, and covers just your first couple of qualifying orders within any 2-day period. It is a promo, not a policy: it is not guaranteed on every order and can change or disappear at any time.

On 1 July 2026 the EU closed the loophole that let low-value parcels — most Temu orders — cross the border with no customs duty. If you're ordering from an EU country, here's exactly what changed, what you'll pay now, and how to actually read the import charge line Temu shows you at checkout, so nothing on your order summary is a mystery.

Last verified: 12 September 2026 — EU customs rules are actively changing, and Temu appears to be testing several checkout variants, so what you see may differ. The import-coverage figures below were captured in the German (Temu.com/de) store in September 2026. Always confirm the charge shown at your own Temu checkout and check your national customs authority for country-specific detail.

What changed on 1 July 2026

There have actually been two separate changes, and it's easy to mix them up.

2021 — the €22 VAT exemption disappeared. The EU used to let parcels worth €22 or less cross the border with no import VAT at all. That exemption was scrapped in 2021, so every parcel entering the EU from outside — regardless of value — has carried import VAT since then. This part is old news; it's been true for a while.

1 July 2026 — the €150 customs-duty exemption ended too. Until this date, parcels valued at €150 or under (which covers the overwhelming majority of Temu orders) still avoided customs duty, even though VAT applied. From 1 July 2026, the EU removed that duty-free treatment and introduced a temporary flat customs duty of €3 per item, charged once per tariff (HS code) category in your order rather than once per parcel. It's described as temporary legislation, running until 1 July 2028, after which the EU is expected to move to standard, product-specific customs duty rates instead of the flat €3.

The reform targets the huge volume of low-value parcels — reporting around the change cites figures in the billions per year — arriving from platforms like Temu, Shein and AliExpress, and also makes these platforms "deemed importers," responsible for product-safety compliance on what they ship into the EU.

What you'll actually pay on a Temu order today

Put together, a typical EU order from outside the bloc now carries two separate charges on top of the goods price:

Charge	Amount	How it's calculated
Import VAT	Your country's standard VAT rate (typically in the high teens to mid-20s%)	Applied on the goods value plus shipping, since the 2021 exemption removal — on every parcel, any value
Customs duty (new)	€3 flat, per HS-code category	Charged once per tariff class in the order, in effect from 1 July 2026 to 1 July 2028

A simplified, illustrative example: say you order two t-shirts in the same tariff category worth €14 each (€28), plus €4 shipping — a €32 base. VAT at an example rate of 21% on that base is roughly €6.72. Because both t-shirts share one HS code, the flat customs duty is charged once, at €3. That's roughly €41.72 before any Temu discount is applied — all shown as separate lines in your order summary before you confirm payment. Your actual numbers will depend on your country's VAT rate and how Temu classifies the items in your basket, so treat this as a worked example, not a quote.

How to read the import charge at Temu checkout

Temu's EU checkout is fairly transparent about all of this — you just need to know what you're looking at:

An explicit import charge line. If duty or VAT applies, it shows as its own line item in the order summary before you pay, not added on delivery.
A personalised "Temu covers X% of import charges" discount. On some orders Temu knocks a percentage off the import-charge line itself. The rate is personalised — Temu's own pop-up states the amount is set "using automated decision-making" — so it varies from shopper to shopper: we saw 40% in the German store in September 2026, and other shoppers have been shown different rates. When it shows, it's capped at €20 per order, only applies to orders over about €30, and covers just your first couple of qualifying orders in any 2-day window. It's a promo, not a policy — we even saw it offered to a brand-new account with no order history — so don't assume it'll be there, and check the figure on your own order.
"No import charges with current cart" on a line item. Temu shows this next to an item that shares a tariff (HS-code) category with something already in your cart: because the flat €3 duty is charged once per category, that extra same-category item adds no further charge. In our German-store test it appeared on one of two dispenser-type items that fall under the same HS code. It reflects your cart's mix — not where the item ships from.
Grouping by tariff class. Because the €3 duty is charged per HS-code category rather than per parcel, adding another item that shares the same tariff class as something already in your cart doesn't add a second €3 charge — the checkout total reflects this automatically.

Temu German-store cart pop-up reading 'Temu covers 40% of import charges for orders over 30,00 euro, up to 20,00 euro', with fine print stating the coverage amount is personalised using automated decision-making — Both captured in the German store, September 2026, on a brand-new account with no orders. **Left:** the coverage pop-up — 40 % here, capped at €20, on orders over €30, which Temu says is “personalized for you using automated decision-making”, so the rate differs between accounts. **Right:** the same promo as a cart banner. The green “No import charges with current cart” tag sits on an item that shares an HS-code category with another in the cart (here, two dispensers), so it adds no further €3 duty — it reflects the cart mix, not where the item ships from.

Temu German-store cart showing the banner 'Temu covers 40% of import charges for orders over 30,00 euro, up to 20,00 euro' and an individual item tagged 'No import charges with current cart' — Both captured in the German store, September 2026, on a brand-new account with no orders. **Left:** the coverage pop-up — 40 % here, capped at €20, on orders over €30, which Temu says is “personalized for you using automated decision-making”, so the rate differs between accounts. **Right:** the same promo as a cart banner. The green “No import charges with current cart” tag sits on an item that shares an HS-code category with another in the cart (here, two dispensers), so it adds no further €3 duty — it reflects the cart mix, not where the item ships from.

Temu EU cart showing a highlighted prompt, 'Entdecke weitere Artikel ohne zusaetzliche Einfuhrabgaben' (Discover more items without additional import charges), which opens a page of same-tariff items you can add without a further import fee — On some carts, Temu’s checkout surfaces this — “Discover more items without additional import charges” (this German-store example was shared by a shopper on Reddit). It opens a page of items in the same tariff class you can add without triggering another €3 duty. It doesn’t appear on every cart — on a fresh account we tested it wasn’t shown at all, another sign Temu is trialling different checkout layouts.

None of this requires any action from you beyond reading the summary before you tap pay — Temu calculates and displays it live as your cart changes.

What's an HS code? (In plain English)

HS stands for "Harmonized System" — a standardised numeric code, used by customs authorities worldwide, that classifies exactly what kind of product is in a shipment (a t-shirt vs. a phone case vs. a kitchen gadget, for example). Every physical product gets mapped to one, and customs uses it to decide what duty rate and rules apply. It's not something you choose — Temu assigns it based on the product listing — but it's why two items that look similarly priced can be charged duty differently, and why grouping items of the same type in one order can avoid a second €3 charge while a mixed basket (say, clothing plus electronics) usually can't.

A note on the "group your cart" trick people mention on Reddit

The “no import charges” page is a real Temu feature; the multi-step cart trick is the anecdotal part

On some carts and in some countries, Temu’s checkout surfaces a “discover more items without additional import charges” page that groups items in the same tariff class — that part is a real Temu feature (shown above), not a hack, though it doesn’t appear for every cart. What’s anecdotal is the Reddit workaround of building an order across several steps, or padding quantities, to reach that page and squeeze the number of €3 charges down: we can’t verify those specifics, they likely vary by country and cart, and Temu can change the flow at any time. It isn’t a way to dodge tax you legitimately owe — just shoppers describing how the per-HS-code charge already works. Either way, the checkout total is the only number that matters; confirm it before you pay.

Do import charges count toward WinCredit or ClaimCredit?

No. Temu's WinCredit and ClaimCredit promotions set a spending threshold based on your merchandise (goods) subtotal — what you're actually buying. Import VAT and the new customs duty are a pass-through tax Temu collects on the EU's behalf, not spend on the platform, so they don't count toward those thresholds. If you're trying to hit a WinCredit or ClaimCredit spend target, budget off the goods price shown per item, not your checkout total.

This is also a good moment to keep the two things distinct: import charges are a one-time tax on your order at the border, while a Temu price adjustment is a refund of the difference if an item you already bought drops in price within 30 days. If you want the full picture on Temu's credit mechanics, see our guides to how Temu Credit works and whether it expires, what ClaimCredit is versus WinCredit, and how price adjustments, WinCredit and ClaimCredit differ.

The bottom line

Since 1 July 2026, EU orders from outside the bloc carry import VAT (true since 2021) plus a new flat €3 customs duty per tariff category, replacing the old €150 duty-free exemption. Temu shows both as line items before you pay, sometimes discounts the charge through a personalised "Temu covers a %" promo (we saw 40% in the German store in September 2026, and other shoppers have been shown different rates — Temu says the rate is set by "automated decision-making"), and tags an extra same-tariff item in your cart "No import charges with current cart" where the per-category €3 duty has already been counted. None of it changes how Temu's price adjustment policy works — that's a separate, ongoing entitlement on the goods you've already bought, and it's worth checking whether you're leaving money on the table there too.

Import fees are out of your control — price drops don't have to be

RefundRadar is a free app for iOS and Android that monitors all your Temu orders in the background and automatically files the price adjustment claim the moment a qualifying drop is detected — every drop, every order, no manual checking.

See how it works →

Frequently asked questions

Did the EU remove the low-value import exemption for Temu orders?

Yes, in two stages. In 2021 the EU scrapped the old €22 VAT-free threshold, so import VAT has applied to every parcel regardless of value since then. Then, from 1 July 2026, the EU removed the separate €150 customs-duty exemption and introduced a temporary flat customs duty on low-value parcels from outside the EU, including Temu orders.

How much is the new EU import duty on Temu orders?

From 1 July 2026, the EU applies a temporary flat customs duty of €3 per item, charged once per tariff (HS code) category in your order, not per parcel. It applies until 1 July 2028, when it's set to be replaced by standard, product-specific customs duty rates. You still pay import VAT on top, at your country's standard rate.

What does "Temu covers a % of import charges" mean at checkout?

It's a personalised promotion on some Temu EU orders: Temu discounts the import-charge line itself before you pay. The rate varies by account — Temu says it's set "using automated decision-making" — so we saw 40% in the German store in September 2026 while other shoppers have been shown different rates. When it appears it's capped at €20 per order, only applies to orders over about €30, and covers just your first couple of qualifying orders in any 2-day period. It only shows when the checkout displays it, isn't guaranteed on every order, and can change or disappear at any time.

Do Temu's EU import charges count toward WinCredit or ClaimCredit spending thresholds?

No. WinCredit and ClaimCredit spend-threshold promotions are based on your merchandise (goods) subtotal, not the import VAT or customs duty added at checkout. Those charges are a pass-through tax collected on Temu's behalf, not spend on the platform.

Is there a way to avoid Temu import charges in the EU?

You can't dodge tax you legitimately owe, but you can avoid paying the flat €3 duty more times than necessary. Because that duty is charged once per tariff (HS-code) category rather than per item, an order kept to items in the same category is charged once — Temu's checkout shows this with a "No import charges with current cart" tag on the extra same-category items. Reddit reports of building carts across several steps to push this further are anecdotal and may vary by country. Either way, the checkout total is the only number that matters — confirm it before you pay.