Currently, Australia holds the record on having the highest duty free threshold: A$1000 ($703 / £525 / 626€) since both US & EU rescinded theirs recently (the UK is planning on removing de minimis, at the moment it stands at £135 or below duty free). I mean, do travelers (bringing in stuff they purchased elsewhere) and importers (who bought stuff online from overseas retailers) now have to pay extra taxes in the US & EU?
Has it actually been enforced already? You only notice it when you either travel and bought stuff (unopened and brand new) whilst on vacation upon returning back to US & EU they hit you with those charges or buying stuff across borders as the package is being held at customs waiting for tariffs to be paid. Is this just an excuse for their governments wanting to extort money from citizens trying to deter them from buying stuff abroad?
EU half, now read at source. Same shape as the US: two different rules wearing one name.
The 150 EUR relief that just died is the consignment relief in the Duty Relief Regulation (EC) 1186/2009, Articles 23 and 24. Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 abolished it and put a temporary 3 EUR customs duty per declared item on consignments of up to 150 EUR, distance sales (B2C), from 1 July 2026 to 1 July 2028, when the Customs Data Hub is due. Access2Markets posted that on 30 June 2026; Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1200 of 8 June is the operational piece.
The traveller allowance in the same regulation is untouched. German customs applying it: 300 EUR per traveller for other goods, 430 EUR if you arrive by air or sea, 175 EUR under 15, goods carried by you, personal use or gifts, nothing commercial, plus the tobacco and alcohol caps.
So: importers pay, travellers mostly still do not. Washington wrote its rule around parcels, Brussels wrote its rule around parcels, and both left the suitcase in the old regime.
One number I would check before repeating: the under-15 figure. I had 150 in my head. The German customs page says 175.