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EU fines Temu €200M for allowing sale of illegal products

bbc.co.uk

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Re: EU fines Temu €200M for allowing sale of illegal products

#241

Post by toast0 »

tialaramex wrote: post #162
w4zz wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my limited experience not all countries do think like this.

It's a cultural thing yeah. Americans genuinely do on the whole think that their approach is better. The good news I guess is that if you're an American and you think "Well I don't" you can (at least for now†) just leave. † If you lived in the German Democratic Republic (aka "East Germany") in 1950 you could literally just walk to West Germany, by 1961 all other borders are closed and fenced and in Berlin the Wall is…

I mean, in America we have similar regulations. Toys aren't allowed to burn down houses or poison babies. You have to get dietary supplements if you want to poison babies.

Enforcement on individually shipped imports is hard regardless of where you are. Traditionally enforcement is through spot checks of bulk imports, and leaning hard on the importer who has a clear nexus.

Re: EU fines Temu €200M for allowing sale of illegal products

#242

Post by throw-the-towel »

B1FF_PSUVM wrote: post #235
alephnerd wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sets precedent, and has already led to a (by Chinese foreign policy standards) fairly vicious response [0][1][2]. This is also part of the EU's larger tariffs against China [3]. [0] - https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202605/1361926.shtml [1] - https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202605/1362200.shtml [2] - https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202605/1362161.shtml [3] - https://www.ft.com/content/e28fe696-ac30-4543-a105-febc8…

> [0] Ahah, China going Adam Smith on the EU. Peacefully, so far. Let's hope they don't go "opium war" on free trade.

> while French President Emmanuel Macron even suggested following US-style measures akin to the "Section 301" tariffs.

> A major source of this latest wave of the so-called "China shock" narrative is the claim that the EU's trade deficit with China reached 360 billion euros in 2025.

These are the same people whose collective knickers are getting in a twist over Trump, mind you.

Re: EU fines Temu €200M for allowing sale of illegal products

#243

Post by namibj »

tgv wrote: post #213
PowerElectronix wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It helps funding the EU and little else.

Here's your chlorine chicken burger, now with extra chlorine. That'll be $39,95 please.

Plus tax no we can't tell you before you order.

Re: EU fines Temu €200M for allowing sale of illegal products

#244

Post by RobotToaster »

ahartmetz wrote: post #221
nickff wrote: post #149

The EU's approach to imports from PRoC is the regulatory equivalent of trying to 'test your way to quality' (which Deming showed to be nearly impossible). Attempts to use regulatory fines and prosecutions to ensure compliance from PRoC products is a whack-a-mole exercise which will fail.

By the same logic, attempts to use policing to ensure lawfulness are a whack-a-mole exercise which will fail. So what else are you going to do? Paperwork up front for every single product?

> By the same logic, attempts to use policing to ensure lawfulness are a whack-a-mole exercise which will fail.

That's basically how drugs won the war on drugs, yes.

Re: EU fines Temu €200M for allowing sale of illegal products

#245

Post by retired »

tobz1000 wrote: post #229
retired wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you ban Temu chargers, people will go to stores to buy the cheapest ones which are identical to the ones on Temu, just for 10x the price. Edit: Reply to Scroll_Swe as I am rate-limited to posting new comments. The chargers in budget stores are identical to Temu chargers are are frequently recalled.

At least in the UK, the main high-street retailers will only stock goods from reputable brands with a (relatively) decent track record and safety standards. I don't believe there is any intersection between products sold on Temu and e.g. Argos, John Lewis.

Not in The Netherlands. Plenty of stores that stock chargers identical to the ones on AliExpress and Temu. Action, Big Bazar, SoLow.

Edit: Reply to lozenge as I am still rate-limited by HN. Some of them get recalled, the vast majority of them are still being sold and could burn your house down.

Re: EU fines Temu €200M for allowing sale of illegal products

#246

Post by Scroll_Swe »

dsign wrote: post #109

Say what you may of Temu, and I do think more vetting of certain goods is a good idea, but they fill a very real need. In the part of Europe where I live, the choice is only between intermediaries for the same products coming from China. The local intermediaries sell a very limited picking at staggering margins. And when it comes to certain things, like electronic components, the choice is between importing (old) Ame…

Like what?

The clothes are all 100% plastic polyester shit with extra chemicals. If you have proof of otherwise, show me.

Yes I make enough to buy good clothes. If I REALLY need cheap clothes H&M basics are always there.

Same with anything else, IT and tech parts I shop in Sweden.

What else?

Like, what is so needed now that you did not need before but you need to buy plastic China crap from Temu now?

Re: EU fines Temu €200M for allowing sale of illegal products

#247

Post by Scroll_Swe »

retired wrote: post #219
BrtByte wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But I still think chargers and children's toys are exactly where the line should be drawn

If you ban Temu chargers, people will go to stores to buy the cheapest ones which are identical to the ones on Temu, just for 10x the price. Edit: Reply to Scroll_Swe as I am rate-limited to posting new comments. The chargers in budget stores are identical to Temu chargers are are frequently recalled.

Nope, Anker or store brand is NOT identical to Temu crap.

Re: EU fines Temu €200M for allowing sale of illegal products

#249

Post by joe463369 »

Jerry2 wrote: post #129

The EU is only good at imposing massive fines and they like to regulate technologies they have not created and don't even host them. TEMO will more than likely just pass the cost of this onto EU consumers.

> TEMO will more than likely just pass the cost of this onto EU consumers.

Good. I want to know my AIEONUS phone charger isn't going to burn my house down and I'm more than happy pay a premium for that knowledge.

Re: EU fines Temu €200M for allowing sale of illegal products

#250

Post by dangus »

Eric_Bulai wrote: post #201
PowerElectronix wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It helps funding the EU and little else.

Regulation slows down the problem, but demand creates the solution so it doesn't really matter.

This is a nuance-free take.

There’s zero demand for products that are hiding safety issues that nobody was seeking out (e.g., toys with lead paint, batteries that explode)

Demand for illegal things isn’t in a vacuum. It’s hard to enact prohibition on alcohol or cannabis (extremely easy to produce) versus prohibiting something more complicated to make, difficult to smuggle, or less desirable to buy.

If my government bans Crocs am I going to go through the engineering effort to make them myself? Plus, if I go outside the cops will see my illegal Crocs very quickly. I have plenty of alternatives to Crocs and most of them are better. Most likely, I won’t even think about the ban.

We have a good example with incandescent light bulbs. I don’t know anyone who has attempted to violate the ban on home incandescent light bulbs.

The whole “everything should be legal anyway because there will always be a black market” philosophy is not a universal truth and we need to stop assuming that it makes sense.

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