I've noticed that there's currently some kind of manufacturing consent going on in the EU, presumably preparing the population for, which I claim, plans to make it very difficult for European consumers to order from China directly.
Disclaimer: I gladly buy from local EU businesses, but not if they're just a middleman charging an unreasonable fee for importing Chinese-made products.
He should really take a look at the crap available on Amazon - much of which is just people reselling Chinese imports.
I personally buy a lot of electronics from AliExpress. But I have enough experience and knowledge to know what not to buy.
Some of the electronics available are downright dangerous - particularly super cheap USB chargers.
We have regulations and standards for a reason.
I'm glad for any initiative that leads to less crap reaching the markets that is either dangerous or has a shelf life of a few months before breaking down. The EU as a whole will become even less competitive if we don't re-gain some level of quality awareness and place quality at the center of the things we consume and produce.
This should not be understood as anti-China but should apply to all products on the EU market. China has some well-respected quality-conscious consumer brands (e.g. Hifiman, Fenix Lights, DJI, Anker, Govee...) but it seems a lot of smaller companies there put easy revenue over any concerns for quality.
The key thing is: Europe has product standards (and not just on safety), sometimes very strict ones. We have democratically agreed upon these, often enough only as a response to the industry being unable or unwilling (cough Apple and USB-C) to do the right thing on its own. In addition, we have warranty requirements (a minimum of two years), minimum wage and workplace safety regulations.
Now Temu, Shein, lots of the shops on Alibaba, Amazon and eBay... they all push stuff into Europe that violates these standards and can be sold cheaper as a result.
That is bad on three sides: First, for the dangerous stuff (such as the toys with choking hazards, lead paint or the "chinesium" Big Clive routinely pulls out of shady eBay sales), that's directly endangering our people and/or our environment. And second, all the stuff made and imported that violates requirements is undercutting our domestic production and economy who does have to follow the regulations or otherwise it gets fined. And finally: a lot of the stuff particularly on Temu and Shein is outright garbage, falling apart after a few uses - and then it ends in our landfills and waste disposals. A horrible waste from an environment perspective, especially given that a lot of the junk comes in via air freight of all things!
A try at a Solution:
The EU should enforce much larger warranties than the current 2 years.
The higher the price, the longer the required warranty:
A 1500€ electric scooter should have, say, 7 years warranty. A car, 10 years - after that date, the battery interface becomes open source hardware for easy OEM replacement.
Results:
+ Sweatshops exploiting people in miserable conditions are no longer profitable
+ Protects the environment via resource utilization reduction
+ The EU can compete in manufacturing - via quality - with competitors that mostly offer cheap labor.
The issue is the complete lack of enforceability.
A regulator can tell temu/shein/amazon/etc to take down the seller, or even the brand and the next day two new ones prop up selling the product from the same factory.
To my knowledge, no one has solved this yet. Maybe a good use of AI? Unfortunately not monetizable really.
what about garbage from amazon, aliexpres and others?
I'm not a friend of EU regulators in general, but complaining about Chinese imports is an easy PR-win. If a country can compe up with something like "Gutter Oil" being a thing, procured by mom-and-pops, sold to restaurants nearby, which then shove it down the throats of their customers nearby, there must be such little accountability and remorse from the producer side in general in the PRC that putting more distance between vendors and customers can only result in more toxins. Europeans have no idea about the brazenness there.
I buy some arts materials from China, but only simple things that I cannot find in EU or tyat are just the same product re-sold a lot more expensive here. I'd be glad to buy in EU if that's cheaper.
I still buy EU arts materials that are more expensive than Chinese products, but that are (at least supposedly) better tested for toxicity.
I noticed in the past year or two art stores like Casa Piera/Arte Miranda have had more products like watercolor paper and paints from China. I hope new regulations will make sure these are compliant with EY regulations, without raising the price to consumer too much.
tbh not surprised, shien and temu got shady s** going on
Innocent question...Are those goods also not available via Amazon?
Are we finally witnessing the end of dropshipping?
I may be a bit jaded here, but: $politician is shocked by $problemKnownForDecades. These people's outside face is more an opera actor than a real person. So the actual message is probably: Some political faction has decided to push for legislation and needs to sell it to the public.
Combined with the USA's preparation for war on China, the Russia invasion in Ukraine, and the Trump trade war: It seems the EU is aligning itself with the USA againts China, and has to sell this to an anti-Trump citizenship
A good strawman argument like politician like it before trying to push some new shitty regulations.
It's not like local business were not already selling wrong and counterfeiting products.
Surprised it shocking.
Cheaper isn't always safer.
tbh not surprised
AKA cheap crap is cheap crap.
Oh yeah the invisible hand of market that works after hundreds of children die should cover for that /s
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"(...) kids’ shorts with drawstrings longer than regulation length (...)"
We really overrregulate things here in the EU. It was a great run, we've had access to great Chinese stuff for a while now. Maybe around 2007-ish the direct-to-consumer imports started.
It has really helped me to acquire tools and eletrical components cheaply, where no other supplier was able to offer it at a good price or at all. Hopefuly the EU will fail to keep this in check so that the party can continue.