France announce a levy on SHEIN, TEMU and similar imports. AIBU to want the UK to do the same?

This 100 %

Don’t forget the Cost of Living crisis, and the amount of people on benefits.
There isn’t the money washing around to support boutique shops in every town.

A lot of Shein Temu is exactly the same goods as in the shops.

But there are laws governing most of these areas - you can't just produce/sell/buy whatever you want or put whatever you want into your own body, and there are restrictions on where you can smoke or what kinds of car seats you should use. The lines are drawn in different places, but we absolutely don't have the freedom, as producers or consumers, to make whatever choices we want.

Do you have any concept of how retail works? It’s a complicated chain of available retail space, affordable rents and business rates, retailers who have something to offer who can source/make goods at a price people can afford, availability of staff etc. Businesses wont spring up magically just because SHEIN pays more tax.

Online shopping is a lifesaver for so many people .We really shouldn’t have to point this out to you.

Maybe you should blame the landlords for the extortionate rent and the councils for the business rates and parking charges which all goes against any high street.

Whenever I’m out and about in France, Spain, Germany and Italy, the high streets are hardly better. The big affluent towns (usually university towns) are doing well, and the smaller towns on their arses.

I would like to see a return to quality products on our high street shops. Why would I pay £18 for a basic top in a high street shop when it is the same see through, thin, plastic feeling crap that is on Shein for £5?

I don't mind spending for high quality clothes that fit nicely and last. I do mind spending money on something that last 3 washes and goes baggy/ bobbly. Feels like plastic. I can get something pretty much identical for 1/5 of the price.

The high street shops need to stop the race to the bottom on quality. Instead offer something people want - nice decent quality basics. I for one have hunted for eternity on the high street for a nice basic cotton t-shirt that covers my stomach and sits at a nice length, has actual sleeves (that rest mid bicep/ upper elbow), is not a tent and is cotton not some strange synthetic static material.

Lots of taxes already apply - we pay them - but a fast-fashion-direct-to-customer cash charge should be imposed quickly.

The stuff’s shit for us and the planet.

💯 but I personally think it should be banned. Nothing CE tested, dangerous items, cheap landfill shit. The argument about Primark is void - you have some comeback if there is something wrong with the product so they have a duty to make sure it’s safe.

We are not making good choices ourselves

You could say that about anything.

People are not making good choices when they overeat and end up overweight.

People are not making good choices when they are drinking alcohol, or smoking, or vaping.

People are not making good choices when they work full time and have young kids in full time childcare.

People are not making good choices when they don’t even try to breastfeed and just go straight to bottle feeding.

People are not making good choices if they are forward facing a child before the age of 4, using sleep nests or cot bumpers.

A “good choice” is subjective. But we have the freedom to make those choices whether you like it or not.

Because people will just stop buying the stuff rather than buying locally

I used to dread shopping for clothes in the high street, having to piss about with trying them on and paying a small fortune.

The country has made it clear what it wants. Covid made it happen quicker. To punish people because you want to go back 20 years is stupid.

Particularly the Amazon one - So many jobs would be lost in this country just so your teen might be able to get a crappy Saturday job.

The world has moved on and it’s time to accept it.

Dont understand why he havent had one for years already. We just impose VAT on them - and at the price they charge not at the ridiculous amount they probably declare as the cost.

Oh and we’ll never go back to the days of easy to get Saturday jobs either

Good for you. Doesn’t it occur to you that if others felt the same, the high street would still be going? It’s gone, you need to understand that it wont be back, even if you force people away from online shopping.

You can’t punish others just because you want to return to the days before we had choices about shopping.

They would have to close down the likes of Primark as well as their stuff is crap from China.

I will not spend much money on clothes - does that mean I would have to make do with second hand crap?

I won't buy more on the high streets because of a levy on Temu.

Definitely. It's ridiculous how they are currently allowed to operate.

It wouldnt level the field at all.Totally agree with getting rid of Temu shite etc but the death of the high street is far more complex than that.Online shopping is here to stay.

Why should people be punished because Amazon provides better stock levels and prices than the high street?

I presume you are happy for the delivery drivers and warehouse workers to lose their jobs if people stop using Amazon?

I presume all those who want to get rid of cheap online shopping live somewhere where there are massive shops who could hold all the variations of stock they want? Or is it the MN martyrdom of being happy to suffer in order to do the ‘right thing’?

100% especially on the SHEIN, clothes etc. the culture around buying hauls of cheap, unethically produced tat you wear once & put in landfill is awful. Could raise a fair whack . If anyone needs cheap clothes there are plenty of charity shops, Vinted etc
Need to change the culture when it comes to consumption

Just so you know, that same levy is apllied to all small retailers as well. We havecan etsy buisness, our EU customers now have an extra tax.

But that ship has long since sailed. It was starting before COVID but that escalated it.

Do you think that people will suddenly want to use the high street if the government does this?

The high street will never come back to how it was. Online shopping offers so much more in terms of price, availability, ability to return if you change your mind etc. Also no queues or people and the ability to buy something in the middle of the night and have it delivered by lunchtime!

Our local retail park on the outskirts of town has started having charity shops where there once were big high street names - it’s a safe bet to think that it is going the same way as the high street.

Much of the stuff you buy in the shops is made in China and imported, so it’s no different ethically from Temu etc.