The European Commission announced Wednesday it would seek to impose new fees on e-commerce imports, as part of efforts to tackle a surge of “harmful” products into the bloc — the bulk of them from China.The EU action came as the US Postal Service (USPS) briefly suspended inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong, a move affecting low-cost platforms Temu and Shein — but the commission said the two actions were “not coordinated”.Announcing the steps at a press conference in Brussels, EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said the bloc had seen the number of imported e-commerce parcels double from 2023 to 2024, to reach 12 million a day.”Many of those products have been found to be unsafe, counterfeit or even dangerous,” she said.The commission called on EU lawmakers and member states to “consider” a handling fee on e-commerce parcels imported directly to consumers, to address the “costs of supervising compliance” with EU rules.The move “aims to address growing concerns about the impact of those products on the health and safety of European consumers,” Virkkunen said.”It also looks into the significant environmental and climate damage caused by those shipments, and also the unlevel playing field which rogue traders create for our SMEs and businesses.”Around 90 percent of the packages concerned come from China, according to the commission, many of them sold by booming online giants Shein and Temu.Both Chinese-founded platforms are suspected by Brussels of not doing enough to prevent the sale of products that do not meet European standards.- Duty exemptions -The commission also confirmed the launch of an investigation into Shein for not abiding by the bloc’s consumer protection rules.”Any business that wants to benefit from our market of almost 450 million consumers should play by the rules,” said the EU’s consumer protection chief, Michael McGrath.Brussels is coordinating the investigation with the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network, which brings together the competent authorities of the bloc’s 27 member states. If Shein is found guilty it risks being fined.Shein said it would “engage” its partners at EU and national government-level to “study these recommendations.””We welcome efforts that enhance trust and safety for European consumers when shopping online,” the company said.The commission had also opened an investigation in October against Temu, which sells a vast array of goods at low costs. McGrath said up to 96 percent of products tested and sold on the targeted platforms were “not fully compliant with our rules and our safety standards.””The consequences can be real and can be very, very serious,” he said — citing examples like a baby’s pacifier that could come apart and choke the child, or a light fitting that could cause an electric shock.He promised a number of EU actions together with national authorities including “mystery shopping, testing activities, sweeps and controls to detect and recall dangerous products from the market in a more efficient way.”As well as the move to impose parcel handling fees, the commission also called for rapid implementation of previous proposals taken to level the playing field online, including removing the duty exemption for parcels worth less than 150 euros.The USPS on Tuesday scrapped a duty-free exemption for low-value packages and suspended parcel imports from China over tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump. But that was quickly reversed on Wednesday as the postal service said it would keep accepting packages after fears the move could spark major trade disruptions.  

Nissan shares plunged on Wednesday as reports said the struggling Japanese carmaker was walking away from merger talks with rival Honda.The Nikkei business daily and other local media earlier said Honda had proposed making Nissan its subsidiary, instead of the previous plan to integrate under a new holding company.”Strong opposition” within Nissan to this proposal was behind its decision to withdraw from the talks, the Nikkei said. Private broadcaster TBS published a similar report.Discussions on setting up a holding company were launched in December but faltered as the two companies disagreed on the integration ratio and other conditions, the newspaper added.Nissan said in a statement it had not announced anything officially, but the two companies “are in the stage of advancing various discussions, including the contents of the report”.”We plan to establish a direction and make an announcement around mid-February.” The company’s shares plunged 4.8 percent before the Tokyo Stock Exchange suspended their trading, saying the media reports on the merger’s cancellation needed to be verified.Honda, however, closed 8.2 percent higher, having soared nearly 12 percent at one point.Nissan and Honda agreed in December to start talks on joining forces to create the world’s third-largest automaker — seen as a bid to catch up with Tesla and Chinese electric vehicle firms.Honda’s CEO insisted at the time it was not a bailout for Nissan, which last year announced thousands of job cuts after reporting a 93 percent plunge in first-half net profit.Business has been tough for foreign brands in China, where electric vehicle manufacturers such as BYD are leading the way as demand grows for less polluting vehicles.China overtook Japan as the biggest vehicle exporter last year, helped by government support for EVs.Honda and Nissan are Japan’s number two and three automakers after Toyota.They already agreed last year to explore a partnership on EV software and components among other technologies, an initiative joined by Mitsubishi Motors in August.But the smaller automaker’s chief said this week it would make a final decision on whether to join the Honda-Nissan merger talks in mid-February or later.In December, reports said Taiwanese electronics behemoth Foxconn had unsuccessfully approached Nissan to acquire a majority share.It then reportedly asked Renault to sell its 35 percent stake in Nissan — a pursuit that was put on hold before the merger talks were announced.A Renault spokesman told AFP that “the information relayed by the press does not indicate that a decision has been made”.”But they suggest that the planned operation is a takeover of Nissan by Honda. And this does not include a control premium (financial incentive) for Nissan shareholders,” the spokesman said, adding that Renault “will continue to defend the interests of the group and its shareholders”.Nissan has weathered a turbulent decade, including the 2018 arrest of former boss Carlos Ghosn, who later jumped bail and fled Japan concealed in a music equipment box.The company is also saddled with billions of dollars of debt that will reportedly mature over the next two years.nf-kaf-jug-hrc/lth/rl