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

Is it a sign of a high IQ to shrug and not give a crap?

Shopping online is the future. If you don’t like Shein then cool, don’t use it, but the shops you do like have websites too. Buy from there. Physical shops are not coming back. And your comment about magically opening gyms and restaurants makes no sense. Opening a gym or restaurant is similar to opening a shop. You find an empty unit and rent it, and then run your business from there. It’s not magic.

Few years ago I'd have agreed - now I find if I buy from actual shops it's similar poor often plastic filled garments and often very poor qualifty sewing.

I know I'm not alone in this as seen the garment you tubers going into shops and saying the same.

Price isn't an indicator of qualifty - though in person there are fewer surpises but choice can be very limited.

Did you agree with US tariffs on goods from China?

The high street is thriving in some parts of the country so not everyone wants widespread detachment from civic life!

I actually agree that physical shops are not coming back. My point is the death of the high street is down to many more factors other than Shein etc. Opening a restaurant etc is still ridiculously expensive thanks to crippling rents ,business rates , the cost of recruiting,training and retaining staff. So many of the challenges that high street shops face are still faced by anyone wanting to replace them

Physical shops and high streets have remained in some parts of the country but as I highlighted previously this is about income.

We buy from charity shops, we've learnt to darn and we make some of our own clothes - we also have rug mats and old clothes as dusters a house full -we also buy amazon SHEIN, TEMU as needed.

Last thing bought from Temu were LED lights for DD2 A-level art work.

There's a level of snobbery about other buying from cheap on-line sites - used to see that about aldi and Lidi shopping till last finacial crisis changed opinions.

I do think there are problems US tariff war has meant China pivoted to trying to sell more to EU - affecting manufactors in that zone - and I suspect these levy are a reponse to that - something that's been brewing for a while.

What has that go to do with my point? The 'culture' of consumerism is the import that we should have resisted a long time ago and that it is in part the cause of the death of the high street.

Partly - but nearby town with thriving shopping center is at same low social economic level if not slightly worse - doesn't have posh bit this city has to pull it up- what it has is free parking.

The richer part of our city tend to go to nearby cities or out of town shopping areas - we don't drive so find harder to access or expensive as bus fares for adults keep marching upwards.

Another nearby town - we've manged to get to by train - also has better shopping area but that because it's next to a tourist bit and hiking area. So people head there and can do more than just shop.

If you agree with the French levy, as some seem to, what’s the difference with the US tariff which many objected to

People love the culture of consumerism.
It’s the same across the globe except for the poverty stricken countries.
People buy shit to brighten their lives, and like doing it.

The EU been aguring for a while that China is dumping goods that orgianlly would have been sent to US on EU markets causing issue in their economies.

While with consumerism or local high streets may be playing a role with any levy- it's likely more to do with shift in global trade thanks to US tariffs.

I think the big problem UK has with shifting manufactoring back here - which would be better in many ways - is high electical costs - we have some of the highest in the world and it massively impacts manufactoring costs.

So no one wants that? But which tariffs or levies are ok and some are not

Charity shops aren't cheap.

The way that we consume has been modelled on the U.S. format like out of town retail parks and now the digital consumption, this has obviously led to the erosion of the high street and civil spaces and social connectedness, that 'isn't' the same across the Western world at all!

The only way you’ll get people to change behaviour is by hiking prices on Chinese goods via tariffs / levies. The threads here were full of the opposite when the US did that.

So it’s a bit inconsistent.

The Levy is more a closing of a loophole, a Tariff on imports is inevitably a complete disruption to domestic markets and the economy.

I am sorry to say that I do agree with this. We aren't in a position to go backwards unfortunately, regardless of the existence and success of Shein/Temu etc. They've been exposed for their ethics or lack of due to how cheap they are, but most of us do not and have not looked into the ethics of high street retailers either. Online shopping is the new norm and a lot of it will be just as bad as the cheap companies, but they charge more so consumers do not think to question it.

If Shein/Temu etc aren't as successful, what will happen to their employees? They won't be able to go and sit in a shiny office with adequate breaks and good working conditions. They'll be somewhere equally as bad if not worse.

Amazon do not use Temu. On the whole I think the products they sell conform to local safety rules.

I live in a remote area with no shops. Amazon is often the only retailer who will deliver. So you want me to 50% more for goods?

There’s a lot of snobbery about Shein that people pretend is environmental and ethical concerns, while simultaneously eating meat and dairy, travelling abroad, and voting Reform. In reality it is just pure and simple snobbery, similar to what people have about Lidl and Aldi.

The truth is, they do sell a lot of rubbish, but they sell some great stuff too. People upload photos of the product so if you look at those too and not just the main image advertising the product, which is usually heavily edited, then you get a good idea of what it’s like in real life and can decide whether or not to buy it based on that.

High streets were dying out long before Temu and Shein. People go to out of town malls for free parking and to get out of the rain. Thats why highstreets are quiet.

The US can charge what tariffs it wants - but it has to deal with the fall out.

EU done nothing but been hit by china pivoting to their markets - they've warned for months they are unhappy and may do something about it - I assume this is part of that.

These things are usually worked out with trade agreements and lots of looking at all the consequences. US isn't doing that - trade agreements get torn up almost immediately - we've in a period of flux with international trade mainly cause by US and it's actions.

We had trade agreements with US as most countires did - then Trump ripped them up and imposed taxes and barries and seems shocked that other countries did the same back - EU Canda China - everyone.

Countries agree how they will trade and what rules they will apply - if you decide you no longer want to do that other side is also free to react to new conditions.

Protecting certain industries with tariffs and levey is acceptable practise and has always happened - though recent decades there's been a foucs on free trade within rules and international arbitration - US has thrown all that away with recent actions.

I was just about to say this, in addition to my previous post. If you eat meat and dairy, you have no business pretending you care for the environment. It is vastly worse than buying the odd clothing item from a cheap online retailer. And the impact is huge, we all eat every day, but we aren't buying a frock from temu every day.