‘Ridiculous’ New EU Postal Fees on Imports Stoke Outrage (1)

At Qualtex, which ships parts for home appliances across Europe, the complaints started late last year: Customers were being charged postal fees because their vacuum dust bags, dishwasher racks, or other replacement parts had been mailed from outside of the European Union.

The fees varied from country to country in the 27-nation trading bloc—some postal operators were demanding more than the value of the appliance part itself, according to data gathered by the Universal Postal Union—and Qualtex had no way to warn customers what they’d be charged. So the company cut back its business dramatically, worsening a supply-chain crunch across ...