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

[AsMuchIn]

AIBU to want the UK to do the same as France, who are imposing a levy on products bought from SHEIN, TEMU, etc.

The impact on our high street (or now lack of) is massive, shops gone or as people choose cheap, poor quality, sometimes dangerous products. Less jobs in retail, empty shops, units filled with nail bars and vape shops.

The impact on the environment is also detrimental.

We are not making good choices ourselves, so bring in a levy.

France targets Shein and Temu with fast fashion fees https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm2792pendro

You ARE self absorbed. It’s not ‘raising standards’ - it’s about things working how YOU want them to, because apparently Europe is wonderful.

Well if enough people agreed with you it wouldn’t have got to this point.

Personally I would like to see the high street turned into housing for the homeless.

Oh the majority of people in the U.K. preferred shopping on the High Street to shopping online, the High Street wouldn’t be in the state it is. So sure, it’s a shame for the minority who do still prefer shopping on the High Street.

It is a shame but I think the attitude of trying to force people back is odd!

I agree. Why force people back to the High Street when the majority have made it clear that it’s not their preferred method of shopping?

And you have a choice and that’s fine. You may be in the minority and therefore your options will possibly become more limited but that’s the market for you.

I have only ever had one parcel go missing and I contacted Amazon and they refunded me immediately.

A lot of the click and collect stuff involves it being sent from one shop to another, which is no different from ordering online.

Our big branch of Next in the retail park has closed, to be replaced by a charity shop. Give it a year or two and the other shops will be the same.

High street wasn’t supported so they moved to retail parks, now retail parks are closing in favour of charity shops in the same way.

It isn’t about me, it is about a whole range of things, already mentioned and repeated.

The downward spiral of the high street is caused by a range of things, again accepted and discussed here already, but the point of the thread is the levy implemented by France to up the costs of SHEIN, TEMU and the like, to support French businesses on their high streets, to put French spending into France.

Fortunately, the poll shows a large majority on here think the levy is a good idea and can see the range of issues that this may solve.

I wonder how it would go down outside mn and talk of higher prices rather than French levies.

Fortunately, a MN poll with 588 votes won’t influence government policy.

Theres no way the high street is coming back and its not Shein or Temus fault.

I dont' know about your area but traders in my town have closed up over the years because of the higher than inflation rent increases our council keeps on imposing,plus high car parking fees that are comparableto a cuty, not an old northern town in decline. Then the road road works that seemed to go on indefinitely outside shops so it was hard for customers to near. Once they were completed it became impossible to get near the town centre as you could before. People gave up.

Absolutely! If MN polls were used to shape Govt policy, the country would truly be screwed!

Absolutely!

But back to SHEIN, TEMU and the like, it is great that serious concerns are raised and that countries are beginning to clamp down on their unsavoury, unsafe practices.
By adding the levy, making the SHEIN/TEMU clothing will be more expensive and giving businesses, that do follow the rules, a chance.

The levy will also remain in Frances public spending. Win, win.

The UK is in ‘Europe’! Did you not learn geography at school?

Genuine question - given that you favour the European model so strongly and their lovely shops etc, wouldn’t it be easier to move to a country which already has this, rather than try to force it through elsewhere?

The UK public has made it clear that they don’t value the high street and that they would rather order cheap Chinese stuff on the internet. What do you hope to gain by trying to force them to change their habits?

There won’t suddenly be lots of places to shop or Saturday jobs or whatever, people will just be paying more for the same stuff with the added bonus that extra money is available for the government to waste.

i live in a city with several local neighbour centres. Some are all independent shops and coffee shops and others are vape shops etc. I think places where people go on holiday are more likely to be the equivalent of the coffee shop areas of my city and not the vape shops etc areas so I’m not sure that what is seen on holiday is fully representative. When I’ve been with my DCs to London; I point out to them when you live in London, for the average person(ie me with I lived there) it’s not all Kings Road shopping and Columbia Road flower market

And why is it ‘raising standards’? Who benefits?

Not the poor souls making the Chinese stuff - they wouldn’t suddenly get better working standards. In fact if their employers are having to pay more, they will be negatively affected even more.

Not the customers who have to pay more in an attempt to force them to buy elsewhere.

Not the high street which is past saving.

So nobody benefits except possibly Amazon etc, which apparently is abhorrent to many people on this thread.

Was in Rome in the summer, apparently the area we stayed is well known for it’s “street art” 😆 this was graffiti, a shit tonne of it, but way to go for a positive spin.

We went to a smaller town that pretty much had all surfaces with graffiti. It was an overload.

I’ve heard some of the arguments on this thread in the past used to justify child labour - the family would just suffer otherwise. I thought we’d moved away from that. So if the environmental standards of a company are terrible and damaging and the products are actually toxic then it doesn’t matter because to stop this would mean people are out of a job? Is this what we are back to?

So what’s the answer? What does happen to the labourers if everyone stops buying? I’m genuinely interested if their circumstances improve.

As for the environment, it’s clear from various threads that most people on here don’t really give a toss.

Companies were signing up to labour pledges and not using child labour. For most of my life this has been something that I’m sure many companies paid lip service to but if this was uncovered then it was viewed as very wrong. From this thread it feels like this has stopped. I suppose this is what happens as the UK gets poorer, global work place and environmental standards are viewed as an indulgence.

What I hate most about these shops is how I can no longer trust that what I buy is safe. They have found clothes laced with lead! As far as I'm concerned if you are found to be importing something as actively dangerous as that, a levy isn't sufficient, it should be some form of ban.

This is true too. I know people who only shop at very expensive shops, who have so many clothes It's unbelievable. And then there's people who take long-haul flights every couple of months and have a fleet of cars.

It's like that thread that's running at the moment regarding not wanting to pay tradespeople in cash. I know some tradespeople make very good money however when it comes to your 'odd job guy' or your cleaner, getting annoyed because they want cash is pretty mean I think. They might be avoiding paying tax, and that's not good from a legal or moral perspective, but why not look at the huge companies that sit pretty on their thrones paid for by tax-dodging, rather than Mildred from up the road who now has an extra £20 in her pocket to feed her children with.

Yes exactly. They want poorer people to suffer so they can feel morally superior.

They wang on about the environment while flying all over the place, having gas guzzler vehicles and not being arsed to recycle.

If people are honest about it then fine. But dressing it up as ‘raising standards’ is horseshit

Or we could all just create straw men to allow us to do any old shit that we want regardless of the consequences. We’re all hypocrites.

So the answer…let’s not raise standards, a race to the bottom for the UK.

Nevermind though, we will still be able to order loads of cheap clothes.