US brands that send small parcels to consumers in the EU pay more per order from November 1, and a Holdwise comparison puts one parcel order at nearly twice the cost of the same order shipped from stock in the Netherlands.
HOOFDDORP, the Netherlands, October 22, 2026. US brands that send small parcels to consumers in the EU pay more per order from 1 November. Holdwise compared the cost of one order sent as a parcel with the cost from stock in the Netherlands. The free overview is at holdwise.nl/en/eu-parcel-rules-2026.
Two Charges, Counted Per Product Type
Since 1 July 2026, the EU charges €3 customs duty on parcels worth €150 or less that a consumer in the EU buys online. The €3 is per product type. Customs counts product types by their customs code. Five identical T-shirts are one product type. A T-shirt and a watch are two.
From 1 November 2026, the EU also charges a handling fee of €2 per product type. The European Commission set this amount on 21 September 2026. The rule was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 22 October 2026. Together, that is €5 per product type. From 1 November, Dutch Customs also asks for a product identification code in e-commerce declarations.
Dutch Customs Sees Sellers Move to Bulk Imports
On 13 October, Dutch Customs reported about 70% fewer e-commerce declaration lines in August and September. The comparison is with the same months of 2025. In the same period, the regular declaration system had 43% more declaration lines. In three months, the €3 duty brought in €119 million in the Netherlands. Most e-commerce parcels come from China. According to Dutch Customs, these companies change their business model. They import in bulk, store the goods in EU warehouses and sell from within the EU.
One Order, Two Ways
Holdwise worked out one order with a T-shirt and a watch, both made in China. The customer pays €90, and the brand paid €30 for the goods.
- As a parcel from outside the EU: €19.50 per order. That is €6 duty, €4 handling fee, €7 for postage and customs clearance, and €2.50 for storage and packing.
- From stock in the Netherlands: €10.00 per order. That is €2 normal duty, €0.50 for sea freight and clearance, €2.50 for storage and packing, and €5 for delivery in the EU.
The amounts for postage, freight, storage and delivery are example rates. With 20,000 orders a year, the brand in this example saves €190,000.
With the Dutch Article 23 license, the importer reports the 21% value added tax (VAT) on the import in its VAT return. In the same return, it deducts this VAT again.
In 2024, 3,775 companies in the Netherlands had an owner in the United States. That is about one in five of all foreign-owned companies in the country, with €302.3 billion in turnover. The United States is also the biggest supplier of goods to the Netherlands from outside the EU, at €57.2 billion in 2025 (Statistics Netherlands, CBS).
“Dutch Customs now counts about 70% fewer e-commerce declaration lines. Sellers from China already import in bulk and keep stock in the EU. In our example, an order as a parcel costs €19.50. The same order costs €10.00 from stock in the Netherlands,” says Robert Jeffrey, Senior Advisor International Structuring at Holdwise.
Companies that plan their own Dutch company can read the free guide Doing Business in the Netherlands 2026.
Sources named by Holdwise are Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382, Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/2152 of 21 September 2026, European Commission guidance on the €3 customs duty and the Union handling fee (5 October 2026), Dutch Customs news of 1 and 13 October 2026, the Belastingdienst on the Article 23 license, and CBS StatLine 85821NED and 85429NED. The per-order comparison is a Holdwise calculation with example rates and duty rates from the EU customs tariff (TARIC).
About Holdwise
Holdwise B.V. is an advisory firm in Hoofddorp, the Netherlands. It helps entrepreneurs and companies from outside the EU who want to do business in Europe through a Dutch company. For US brands, see holdwise.nl/en/ecommerce-eu-entity-usa.
