Changes to US and EU Import Fees 2026

Firstly, I need to be explain that VAT, tariff and import duty are NOT the same thing. When goods cross borders, any or all of those taxes may be applied. For the purpose of this post and to keep things simple, I'm simply going to use the term 'import fees'.

If you would like to know more, although intended for businesses importing into the UK, this website has very good explanations of VAT, import duty and tariffs.

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On 29^th August 2025, The US scrapped its 800 USD de minimis threshold on imports. From that point on, all goods entering the United States were subject to import fees. Some countries got better deals than others. Everything from the UK was charged at 10%.

As a result, I had to split my ‘USA and Canada’ shipping prices as I decided to pay the import fees when booking shipping. I felt that this would speed up delivery of goods and would be less problematic for my US customers .

Although deeply upsetting and annoying, I managed to work with the changes until 24^th July 2026. Now there have been even more changes to how imports into the US are charged. I am desperately trying to keep up but it's become even more complicated.

From 1^st July 2026, the EU scrapped its 150 euro de minimis, imposing a flat 3 euro charge on each item within a single shipment. I responded by splitting my ‘Europe’ shipping rates into two; ‘Europe (EU)’ and ‘Europe (non-EU)’.

I thought everything below 150 euro would have an additional 3 euro charge but this was not the case. Things were not that simple! Each EU member state charges its own rate of VAT for example and I discovered very quickly that sending small items into the EU has become very expensive. In some cases, I was paying over 50% of the price of the goods as again, I wanted to make things easy for my EU customers so I was paying the import fees when booking shipping.

There is a considerable inconsistency across the EU member states (which, incidentally, I find quite ironic for a ‘union’) and a small business like Plasma Music simply cannot keep up. I have therefore made the decision NOT to pay the import fees in advance, on shipments to the EU for items of less than 150 euro in value. I feel awful for my EU customers but I feel I have no choice. For items above 150 euro, I have increased my shipping prices so that import fees are paid by me.

We are told that the EU has taken this action to ‘maintain standards’. 🤔 Hmm… Could someone please explain to me just how increasing import fees is going to do that?

The decisions that I have been forced to make upset me deeply. On the other hand, those decisions have been forced on me not by my government and not due to BREXIT and indeed, not by my customers but by the US government and the EU. It seems that US and EU citizens are having their liberties eroded as freedom of choice to purchase from around the world, is being removed.

Here are some shipments that I have recently booked via Royal Mail. Prices are in GBP.

 

PRODUCT	DESTINATION	SELLING PRICE	SHIPPING PRICE	IMPORT FEES	HANDLING FEE	TOTAL SHIPPING
Aurora + V06	USA	401.80	20.63	49.12 *	1.00	70.25
V02B	Netherlands	33.00	7.20	12.00 **	1.00	19.20
JMP-1 knobs	Sweden	15.33	7.20	9.76 **	1.00	17.96
PML-TX01	Czechia	119.80	13.80	0	1.00	14.80
Sirius	Switzerland	296.00	15.05	0 ***	0	15.05
Aurora + V06	Germany	401.80	21.05	78.82 *	1.00	100.87
Galaxy + Pleiades	South Korea	520.00	30.85	0	0	30.85

* Import fees paid by me as I have no option.
** Import fees paid by customer (usually on delivery of goods).
*** In Europe but not in EU so import fees legislation applies.

NOTE: Czechia is in the EU but there were no import fees for me to pay.
NOTE: I have to pay a 'handling fee' if import fees are paid by the customer.
NOTE: The import fees on Aurora to Germany are very much more than the import fees on Aurora to the US.

With so much unpredictability, I have added the following statement to my on-line store and my Shipping Prices page:

My revised shipping rates to the EU for items above 150 euro, include import fees but it is impossible to predict the exact amount of import fees for each member state and if there is more or less to pay. Please therefore make note of the following:

When purchasing low-cost items from within the EU (below 150 euros), you may have to pay additional charges when you receive them.

When purchasing high-cost items from within the EU (above 150 euros), I may contact you to pay and additional amount as I have no option other than to pay the import fees.

After many decades of globalisation during which countries all over the world, worked together to make things easy for their citizens, we are now moving backwards.

Like many here in the UK, I did not vote for BREXIT. Amongst other things, I could not see the benefits of being outside a large economic club. Since BREXIT however, I have been wondering how I may access the EU more easily. Being half German, I even thought about buying a house in Germany and eventually registering a German subsidiary say, Plasma Musik GmbH. After the recent changes however, I realise that having an acute sense of responsibility towards my customers, might actually be the wrong approach, with regards this particular issue.

To fix this mess, I feel that US and EU citizens should consider the restraining of their freedom of choice, when it comes to elections and voting for their leaders. People need to talk about this. Freedom of choice to buy goods from anywhere in the world, should not be compromised. After all, Plasma Music and other small businesses do not pay those tariffs. YOU DO!

This week, we have seen Gianni Infantino make the most insane proposal to effectively privatise FIFA. WOW! There was a time when corruption was initiated behind very closed doors. Now it seems normal just to openly do bad things! I’m delighted at the quick and scathing response of football associations around the world. Gianni Infantino’s proposal however, is just another sign of how our world is driven not by money but by sheer greed. The changes to US and EU import fees is simply another example of that greed. We the people pay for that but we the people, can also change that.

In recent years, large organisations seem to have adopted two principles of operation:

• Their customers’ lives revolve around the services / products that they sell.
• "Take it or leave it! If you don’t like what we do or the way we do things, we don’t care."

So is it any surprise that our governments seem to be following suit?

Our leaders have forgotten that governments are elected by the people to serve the people. It seems to me that all over the world, the people are now serving the governments.