France’s World-First Fast-Fashion Laws Hit Shein and Temu With New Fees

France has taken aim at the business model of ultra-fast fashion with a fee system designed to hit platforms that list millions of products. Shein and Temu face charges on items sold to French consumers under legislation presented as the world’s toughest effort to curb cheap clothing overconsumption.

The law, imposed in June, also bans advertising for ultra-fast-fashion brands in France. The restriction covers social media and paid partnerships with influencers. Commerce Minister Serge Papin told Ouest France that the platforms were “false champions of consumer purchasing power,” selling cheap products that often fail to meet standards and lack durability.

The fees use a formula based on the number of products a brand offers, their prices and how easily they can be repaired. That makes France the first European Union member to penalize retailers according to the scale of their online selection. Shein had more than 2 million listed products on March 31 and added about 4,700 new clothing items a day.

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These platforms are false champions of consumer purchasing power

The charge starts at €0.25 for products such as socks and boxer shorts and reaches €12 for a coat. It cannot exceed 50% of an item’s pre-tax sale price, although the fees will increase by 2030. French shoppers spent $3.2 billion on textiles in 2025, buying an average of 43 items each, according to ReFashion. The Australia Institute estimated that Australians bought about 56 items per person, but Australia has no equivalent penalties for fast-fashion waste or a body overseeing garment disposal.

The measures form part of wider European efforts to reduce fashion’s environmental impact. The EU has prohibited large companies from destroying unsold clothing and has introduced rules for recovering the costs of collecting, sorting and recycling textile waste. The bloc has also opened an investigation into Shein over the sale of childlike sex dolls. Neither Shein nor Temu responded to Reuters’ requests for comment on the French fees.

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They sell at low prices, yet their products often fail to meet standards and lack durability.