A man browsed clothes both his smartphone and laptop on Temu in Helsinki on 18 September 2024. According to STT, lawmakers from three of the four ruling parties are concerned about the surge in low-value orders from Temu and other Chinese e-commerce platforms. The Finns Party’s Jani Mäkelä, though, described the debate around the phenomenon as hypocritical and rife with double standards. (Heikki Saukkomaa – Lehtikuva)
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THE GROWTH of Chinese low-cost online retailers divides opinion among the four ruling parties in Finland, according to interviews carried out by STT.
Last year brought a dramatic increase in low-value orders from the likes of Aliexpress, Shein and Temu to Finland. Statistics from Finnish Customs reveal that the number of orders worth less than 150 euros grew by almost 900 per cent from the previous year, with the average order valued at no more than six euros.
Temu has already become the most popular online retailer among over 50-year-olds and among the rural population in Finland, indicates a consumer survey by Postnord.
Representatives of the Christian Democrats, National Coalition and Swedish People’s Party regard the soaring popularity of low-cost online retailers as an obvious problem. Jani Mäkelä, the chairperson of the Finns Party Parliamentary Group, disagrees, describing the debate surrounding the phenomenon as somewhat hypocritical and rife with double standards.
“Whatever the case almost all of the other goods we buy from shops in Finland and Europe have been made in China,” he said to STT on Sunday. “Basically what we’re talking about now is the channel through which they come here.”
He stated that he is not supportive of regulating such retailers more strictly but stressed the importance of adhering to the current regulations. Reliance on China should, though, be reduced for products that are key for security of supply, such as electronics and medications.
“Given that people’s consumption habits are swayed by costs, it’s hard to go and tell someone they should buy the more expensive one rather than the cheaper one,” said Mäkelä.
Lawmakers from the three other ruling parties would take a tougher stance on low-cost online merchants.
“I think there’s a massive problem here,” commented Ville Kaunisto (NCP), a deputy chairperson of the Parliament’s Commerce Committee. “The current development is in no way sustainable. It strains the environment and the logistics system.”
He also viewed that the competitive landscape is unfavourable to rule-abiding Finnish companies. “Business owners are working hard to secure their own livelihood, paying their taxes, looking after their employees and making sure they don’t strain the environment. Simultaneously some Chinese operators are playing by the rules in the Wild West.”
Otto Andersson (SFP) and Peter Östman (CD) similarly voiced their concern about facets such as product safety, product origin and labour conditions in the factories that churn out the low-cost goods.
“They’re a tough thing for domestic producers that are producing responsibly, in accordance with all regulations,” said Andersson.
Opposition lawmakers have already proposed solutions. The Centre has voiced its support for exploring the possibility of an environmental tax on low-cost goods and for prohibiting e-commerce giants behind the influx of ultra-fast fashion and other “junk” from advertising online. Tiina Elo (Greens) called for an outright ban on ultra-fast online retailers earlier this month.
STT on Sunday wrote that the ruling parties largely consider such proposals unfeasible. Östman, though, indicated that it might be worthwhile to look into the environmental tax and called for more information on the backgrounds of retailers and their product offering. Such information, he argued, could prompt “many consumers” to start thinking if they could “make other kinds of choices”.
Mäkelä dismissed the ban as “childish” and the tax as a “populist” in an interview with the newspaper.
“If we start unilaterally levying taxes or tariffs on Chinese goods, we’ll quickly find ourselves in trouble with global trade rules, EU tariff regulations and whatnot,” he cautioned.
Temu is already being scrutinised by the European Commission. Its inquiry seeks to determine what the e-commerce giant has done to prevent the sale of products that do not meet the standards of the 27-country bloc and whether its gamified reward scheme could cause addiction.
The EU is also drafting a reform that would introduce tariffs also on orders worth less than 150 euros starting in 2028. Olli-Pekka Penttilä from Finnish Customs reminded STT that the tariffs are not expected to be tremendously high: the price of a nine-euro t-shirt, for example, would only creep up to 10 euros.
“That wouldn’t affect the online shopping of these people too dramatically,” he gauged.
Neither Finland nor the EU has made the political decision to pursue a reduction in the number of low-value orders from e-commerce platforms. If such a decision was made, it would require larger reforms to reach the target, according to Penttilä.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
