[HN Gopher] EU commissioner shocked by dangers of some goods sol...
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EU commissioner shocked by dangers of some goods sold by Shein and
Temu
Author : Michelangelo11
Score : 45 points
Date : 2025-07-20 20:35 UTC (2 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.theguardian.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.theguardian.com)
| belter wrote:
| Innocent question...Are those goods also not available via
| Amazon?
| belter wrote:
| So answer is yes, what makes the downvotes even more suspicious
|
| https://www.reddit.com/r/FrugalFemaleFashion/comments/1gsy4h...
| sva_ wrote:
| I've noticed that there's currently some kind of manufacturing
| consent going on in the EU, presumably preparing the population
| for, which I claim, plans to make it very difficult for European
| consumers to order from China directly.
|
| Disclaimer: I gladly buy from local EU businesses, but not if
| they're just a middleman charging an unreasonable fee for
| importing Chinese-made products.
| seydor wrote:
| i d be surprised if this wasn't some "influence" coming from
| the US administration
|
| for my part i am ordering lots of trinkets that i might need,
| assuming that Temu will be banned soon
| userbinator wrote:
| The EU and US have historically been very much opposites, and
| now increasingly more so, when it comes to things like this.
| Sloowms wrote:
| Manufacturing consent has a different meaning. Politicians are
| always going to argue for their case but that is not the same
| as how the media and business monopolies in the US have fried
| the US public on everything. The EU is of course going to start
| cracking down on imports of goods that do not follow EU law and
| the platforms that sell these products.
| A_D_E_P_T wrote:
| I saw an electronic scooter in a shop here in Slovenia, but the
| name of the brand was unknown to me, and the price was quite
| high. (1500 EUR!)
|
| I searched the brand on the internet, but nothing turned up.
| Just Slovenian shops selling that same model at a similar
| price. [1] This seemed strange to me.
|
| So then I screenshot one of those pages and search via image.
| Turns out that you can buy the exact same scooter on TaoBao for
| 952 RMB. (~114 EUR.) [2]
|
| This is an absolutely ordinary situation. It was much the same
| when I was purchasing a bike for my kid -- 300 EUR here vs. 250
| RMB there, for exactly the same bike. The purchasing power gap
| between USD|EUR and RMB is _immense_.
|
| (I try not to talk about it too much, because it's the sort of
| thing that really upsets politicians and local vendors, and
| they'll want to find a way to make it more painful. It's a
| secret "life-hack" but for real.)
|
| [1] - https://www.telekom.si/e-trgovina/sport-in-prosti-
| cas/skiroj...
|
| [2] -
| https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?abbucket=5&id=869342176534
| concinds wrote:
| If popular goods disobey safety regulations, it was bound to
| catch authorities' attention at some point. But:
|
| > they're just a middleman charging an unreasonable fee for
| importing Chinese-made products
|
| Doesn't most of our economy feel like a scam?
|
| It seems inevitable, when dominant economic frameworks treat
| consumption as something which must be endlessly stimulated (at
| ever-increasing prices), instead of stimulating production,
| forcing cutthroat competition in areas where there is currently
| little, and letting the unprofitable rent-seekers and parasites
| get flushed out.
| ozim wrote:
| Oh yeah the invisible hand of market that works after hundreds of
| children die should cover for that /s
| DoctorOetker wrote:
| because they die at a much lower rate when exactly the same
| trash is bought from local outfits importing them from China
| for a hefty fee? /s
| kinow wrote:
| I buy some arts materials from China, but only simple things that
| I cannot find in EU or tyat are just the same product re-sold a
| lot more expensive here. I'd be glad to buy in EU if that's
| cheaper.
|
| I still buy EU arts materials that are more expensive than
| Chinese products, but that are (at least supposedly) better
| tested for toxicity.
|
| I noticed in the past year or two art stores like Casa Piera/Arte
| Miranda have had more products like watercolor paper and paints
| from China. I hope new regulations will make sure these are
| compliant with EY regulations, without raising the price to
| consumer too much.
| mschuster91 wrote:
| The key thing is: Europe has product standards (and not just on
| safety), sometimes very strict ones. We have democratically
| agreed upon these, often enough only as a response to the
| industry being unable or unwilling ( _cough_ Apple and USB-C) to
| do the right thing on its own. In addition, we have warranty
| requirements (a minimum of two years), minimum wage and workplace
| safety regulations.
|
| Now Temu, Shein, lots of the shops on Alibaba, Amazon and eBay...
| they all push stuff into Europe that violates these standards and
| can be sold cheaper as a result.
|
| That is bad on three sides: First, for the dangerous stuff (such
| as the toys with choking hazards, lead paint or the "chinesium"
| Big Clive routinely pulls out of shady eBay sales), that's
| directly endangering our people and/or our environment. And
| second, all the stuff made and imported that violates
| requirements is undercutting our domestic production and economy
| who _does_ have to follow the regulations or otherwise it gets
| fined. And finally: a lot of the stuff particularly on Temu and
| Shein is outright garbage, falling apart after a few uses - and
| then it ends in our landfills and waste disposals. A horrible
| waste from an environment perspective, especially given that a
| lot of the junk comes in via _air freight_ of all things!
| palata wrote:
| > they all push stuff into Europe that violates these standards
| and can be sold cheaper as a result.
|
| I understand that and I agree that it should be regulated. But
| on the other hand, I can order 50 zippers on Temu for 2$, and
| if I go to a local store they sell one for 10$. I bought both,
| and _they are exactly the same_.
|
| So one zipper on Temu costs 4 cents, versus 10$ in a local
| store. That's 250x more expensive. Doesn't seem reasonable.
| mschuster91 wrote:
| > I bought both, and they are exactly the same.
|
| They are not. With the one you buy at your local store, you
| get the two years warranty, and should the thing contain,
| say, lead paint you can hold the seller accountable.
|
| Good luck doing the same against Temu.
|
| In addition, you pay a markup at the physical store for
| _stockkeeping_. Yeah sure, I can order the small capacitor
| for some fried PLC adapter on Amazon. No doubt. But I 'll
| need to wait about two days for shipping, whereas the local
| electronics store has it right now when I need it.
| palata wrote:
| > They are not. With the one you buy at your local store,
| you get the two years warranty
|
| And with the Temu one I get 250 units for the same price. I
| don't know how often you break a zipper, but 250x in two
| years sounds like a lot :-).
|
| > should the thing contain, say, lead paint you can hold
| the seller accountable.
|
| I understand what you are saying, but honestly I doubt they
| check every 10cm of every zipper for traces of lead (or
| other). If there is ever an issue, maybe (?) they will
| recall them _somehow_ , but I probably won't ever know (say
| I paid cash, they don't have a way to contact me at all,
| and with a credit card I'm not sure if they can / will find
| my contact ever).
|
| > But I'll need to wait about two days for shipping,
| whereas the local electronics store has it right now when I
| need it.
|
| Sure! But the fact is that I'm absolutely fine waiting 2
| days if it costs me 250x less. Actually with Temu it's more
| a few weeks, I would think? Still worth it for zippers.
|
| If the zipper was sold for 1$ in the local store, that
| would be different. But 10$? At this point I just don't
| want the zipper at all. So in a way it's not really "Temu
| vs local store". If I don't get it on Temu, I don't get it
| at all.
| jabjq wrote:
| Just to be clear those things you buy on Temu must have by
| law a representative in the EU which would be the entity
| responsible if you are poisoned by whatever you buy.
|
| Also: fuck local merchants. They have scammed us for a
| lifetime. They can all close for all I care.
| mschuster91 wrote:
| > Just to be clear those things you buy on Temu must have
| by law a representative in the EU which would be the
| entity responsible if you are poisoned by whatever you
| buy.
|
| Yup, the "EC Representative". Some LLC paper company
| that's probably going to just fold over when you hit them
| with a claim.
| StrLght wrote:
| So you're saying that existent regulations don't work, so
| we should fix it by adding more regulations? What if they
| also won't work?
| _Microft wrote:
| How do you tell that you did not get any from a lot that was
| dyed/painted with a cheaper but toxic color?
| zorton wrote:
| Was there a vote on what the correct drawstring length should
| be? How about a vote on the person who wrote those regulations
| specifying the length?
| mschuster91 wrote:
| We vote on the representatives, who in turn spend an awful
| lot of time talking to all sorts of interest groups -
| manufacturers, other parts of the economic chain, consumer
| and environmental protection organizations, lawyers, industry
| organizations, god knows what else - and in the end usually
| come up with decent regulations as a result.
|
| I agree that the results can be sometimes weird, sometimes
| annoying, and sometimes outright dumb. But I'll rather pay
| that price than not have USB-C, two year product warranties,
| no lead in kids' toys or access to clean and safe drinking
| water.
| lousken wrote:
| what about garbage from amazon, aliexpres and others?
| pndy wrote:
| That's my question as well. If he's so concerned about this
| then what about other services? Polish Allegro quite recently
| had to add a filter on their site to sieve out all sellers from
| outside EEA because they flooded it.
|
| Moreover, there are physical stores that also sell this
| "dangerous" stuff. My friend worked in one and she complained
| all the time on chemical odour these items were generating.
| shivasaxena wrote:
| Then your friend is free to not buy these goods she deems
| "dangerous".
|
| Why stop those of us who want to buy it?
| fooker wrote:
| The issue is the complete lack of enforceability.
|
| A regulator can tell temu/shein/amazon/etc to take down the
| seller, or even the brand and the next day two new ones prop up
| selling the product from the same factory.
|
| To my knowledge, no one has solved this yet. Maybe a good use of
| AI? Unfortunately not monetizable really.
| weinzierl wrote:
| _" [..] next day two new ones prop up selling the product from
| the same factory."_
|
| So you mean basically like Amazon?
| pitaj wrote:
| They literally mention Amazon in their comment
| weinzierl wrote:
| Yes, thanks, I should read better.
| liotier wrote:
| > A regulator can tell temu/shein/amazon/etc to take down the
| seller, or even the brand and the next day two new ones prop up
| selling the product from the same factory.
|
| If that game remains afoot for too long, the buck stops at the
| distributor - who can't hide from the EU behind ever-shifting
| randomly generated brands.
| bluGill wrote:
| temu just ships in a plain bag/box and customs would have to
| open ever package to know what is in it. They rarely have
| enough people for that.
| lazide wrote:
| That's when customs blocks small shipments, or as they
| recently did, start charging tariffs on everything - no
| more de minimis.
|
| Then it only makes sense to do larger shipments to
| distributors, and those are easier to track and intercept.
|
| But it's not like the war on drugs every succeeded, and
| that never had to worry about economic viability.
| fooker wrote:
| I don't disagree. The question is how they'd do it.
|
| There's an interesting dilemma here you're not considering.
| Any more red tape here would make it extremely difficult for
| small businesses to sell anything online.
|
| Simple solutions that you have just thought about usually
| don't work, especially when the topic seems like it might
| employ several researchers and lawmakers.
| userbinator wrote:
| Remember when personal responsibility was the norm and people
| weren't mollycoddled by the government?
|
| _kids' shorts with drawstrings longer than regulation length,
| which cause a trip hazard_
|
| LOL. No wonder kids these days are so stupid. All the things they
| or their parents needed to pay attention to have been regulated
| out.
| j45 wrote:
| Surprised it shocking.
|
| Cheaper isn't always safer.
| blitzar wrote:
| Wait till people find out where they make the expensive one.
| jabjq wrote:
| Who voted for this guy again?
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(page generated 2025-07-20 23:01 UTC)