Customs duty and VAT on an import from China

Three charges, not one

People commonly speak of « customs fees » as a single block. They are in fact independent charges, each following its own logic:

• Customs duty, owed to the European Union budget, at a rate that depends on the nature of the product
• Import VAT, owed to the national treasury, at the rate applying to the product on the domestic market
• Where applicable, anti-dumping duty, which hits certain goods of Chinese origin and can far exceed ordinary duty

The first two concern every import. The third concerns only categories covered by a European regulation — but where it applies, it changes the economics of the whole file.

Customs value, the base for everything

Nothing is calculated on the price invoiced by the factory. Everything is calculated on the customs value, which is the price actually paid plus the costs incurred up to the point of entry into the Union: main carriage, insurance, loading and handling charges upstream.

The consequence is direct and often discovered too late: a price negotiated FOB is not a customs value. Sea freight and insurance must be added to obtain the taxable base. On a low-value but bulky shipment, that gap is anything but marginal.

The order of calculation

The three steps follow one another, each serving as the base for the next. That is why VAT also bears on the customs duty — it applies to an amount that already includes it.

The HS code decides everything

There is no « rate for China ». The rate attaches to the product, not to the country: it follows from the tariff classification, expressed as a six-digit code harmonised worldwide and taken to eight digits on import into the Union. That code determines the duty rate, the possible existence of anti-dumping duty, and the standards to be met.

A wrong classification is not settled by a simple adjustment: it exposes you to a reassessment covering three years, penalties included. And responsibility rests with the importer, even where the code was suggested by the supplier or copied from a Chinese invoice.

For a recurring product, or one whose classification is arguable, the authorities issue binding tariff information: a written decision that fixes the classification, binds the administration for three years and holds good throughout the Union. The procedure is free. On a flow set to repeat, it is the cheapest security in the file.

What changed on 1 July 2026

Until that date, consignments with an intrinsic value below €150 entered free of customs duty. That relief has been abolished. The measure targets the flow of very low-value parcels shipped directly from Asia — 5.9 billion items entered the Union in 2025 alone.

It is replaced, from 1 July 2026 to 1 July 2028, by a flat duty of €3 per tariff category of item, pending the definitive arrangement.

For a professional importer receiving containers the change is marginal: the shipments already exceeded the threshold. It is decisive, however, for anyone bringing in samples, spare parts or small runs as split consignments — a sourcing pattern whose tax advantage has just disappeared.

VAT is no longer advanced

In France, since 1 January 2022, import VAT is no longer settled with customs: it is reverse-charged on the VAT return. The mechanism is not optional, it is the ordinary regime for any French taxable business.

In practice, output VAT and input VAT are entered simultaneously on the same CA3 return. The operation is cash-neutral for a business that recovers its VAT in full: no funds advanced to customs, no wait for a refund.

The return is pre-filled from customs data on the 14th of the month, to be checked and validated before the 24th. Pre-filling is not a check: it is for the business to reconcile the amounts against its own import declarations, and to correct them where needed.

An import finally requires an EORI number, the single customs identifier within the Union. It is obtained free of charge from the customs authorities, but must be applied for before the goods arrive: without it, no declaration can be lodged.

CBAM, a new condition of entry for certain materials

The carbon border adjustment mechanism entered its definitive phase on 1 January 2026, after a purely declaratory period opened in 2023. It is neither customs duty nor VAT: it is a third, separate obligation that conditions the entry of the goods.

Six families are covered: cement, iron and steel, aluminium, fertilisers, electricity and hydrogen, above a threshold of 50 tonnes imported per year. An importer of metal parts, fasteners or aluminium structures can therefore fall within it without seeing itself as a steel industrialist.

Importers concerned must obtain the status of authorised CBAM declarant, declare the emissions embedded in their goods and surrender corresponding certificates each year, by 31 May at the latest.

The point to remember is a date: since 1 April 2026, covered goods presented by an unauthorised importer are held at customs. The authorisation is applied for in advance, not when the container turns up.