What this is about
What's happening: from 1 July 2026 the EU charges a €3 duty per product category on every order under €150 from countries outside the EU. Which means: Shein, Temu, AliExpress.
What happens on top in the Canaries: the IGIC exemption for online buys under €150, in place since 2016, is likely to fall. Finance minister Matilde Asián has already signalled it.
What it actually costs: a €5 T-shirt from China will cost €8.35 from July — up 67%. Worst case, if couriers reinstate handling fees: up to €35.
What's still unclear: how couriers will actually handle it. The Canarian government itself says: «more uncertainty than certainty».
Sources: Agencia Tributaria (AEAT), Consejería de Hacienda, Canarias7, EU regulation of February 2026.
Contents
The maths no one has explained yet
Picture this: you're in your flat in Maspalomas, scrolling through Temu, you find a phone case for €2. You click. Eighteen days later it's at your door. Customs: zero. IGIC: zero. Total: €2.
That's how it was. From 1 July, the same order looks like this:
Phone case: €2. EU duty (€3 per product category): €3. IGIC, probably 7% on the total: €0.35. Possible courier handling fee for the H7 form: €0–30.
Minimum: €5.35. Realistic with a courier: €15–35. A €2 bargain turns into a case where you'd rather walk to the Mercadona round the corner — which is exactly what Brussels intends.
How the EU duty works
The €3 duty applies per product category, not per package. Three cotton T-shirts: one €3 charge. One T-shirt and one phone case: two categories, so €6. Three different materials: €9.
That means: anyone making a «mixed» order with twelve small mini-items gets hit hard. That's exactly what Shein and Temu live off. That's exactly what the Commission wants to stop.
The duty applies regardless of value. Whether 50 cents or €99 — always €3 per category. From November the EU is also considering a second €2 surcharge per package. Not confirmed yet.
Why the Canaries get hit harder
On the Spanish mainland you pay the duty and that's it. On the Canaries two more things come into play.
First: the IGIC trap. Since 2016 online buys under €150 have been exempt from IGIC (7%) on the Canaries. That exemption was originally introduced to prevent courier price-gouging — some delivery firms charged up to €30 just to file the customs paperwork. Now the government is flipping the logic: if the EU duty means an H7 customs form is needed anyway, «the IGIC exemption has lost its purpose», says Asián. Translation: 7% comes back.
Second: the courier question. If every package from China now needs an H7 declaration, someone has to file it. On the mainland the EU's IOSS system handles that automatically. Not on the Canaries. To clear a parcel you either need a courier doing it for you (often €15–35 per package) or your own customs agent.
The Autodespacho Canarias platform warns: «If I make a €6 order and end up paying €45, I'll just stop buying altogether.» That's the problem in a nutshell.
Third: Shein and Temu could pull out altogether. If per-package admin gets so high that the margin dies, the platforms could simply drop the Canaries from their shipping list. Other suppliers have done this before.
What you can still do before 1 July
Order what you need before 30 June. Deliveries from China take 14–25 days. Orders placed by mid-June will arrive in time.
One big order rather than twelve small ones. Ten T-shirts in one category still costs only €3 in duty. Ten different mini-items cost €30.
Watch out for late-June orders. If the parcel only reaches Canarian customs after 1 July, the new rules apply.
What the alternatives are
Buy locally. Obvious — but tricky for many items. Fashion on the Canaries isn't as varied as in Manchester or Madrid.
European platforms. ASOS (from its EU warehouses), Zalando, Decathlon and many others deliver to the Canaries. More expensive than Shein and Temu, but no EU duty applies. IGIC is still charged at 7% — still cheaper net than mainland Spain.
Wait. Temu and Shein are building EU warehouses. Temu has a deal with DHL: by 2027, 80% of EU sales should ship from European warehouses — and so escape the duty. In a few months the same platforms could be cheap again, but only for items sent from Poland, the Netherlands, Spain.
Frequently asked questions
- Does the duty also apply to Amazon orders?
- No, if the product ships from an EU warehouse. Yes, if a third-party seller ships direct from China — common on Amazon Marketplace. Check the «Ships from» line before you buy.
- What about orders from the UK or USA?
- Same rules. The UK has been outside the EU since Brexit, the USA never was. ASOS UK, eBay USA, Etsy USA all become pricier from July onwards.
- Will orders over €150 also be affected?
- Differently. Anything over €150 already attracts regular duties plus VAT. The flat €3 charge only applies to smaller orders.
- Can I have it delivered to a UK or mainland address and pick it up myself?
- Technically yes, in practice nonsense. You pay full UK or mainland VAT (20–21%) plus shipping. Not worth it.
- When does the EU's possible €2 admin surcharge kick in?
- November 2026 at the earliest, maybe 2027 — or never. Still only a proposal.
- What if I import small quantities for work?
- As a self-employed autónomo, your own customs number (EORI) is worth getting — then you can file H7 yourself and skip courier fees. Talk to your gestor.