The CEO of Inditex, the parent company of Zara, has called for a US-style crackdown on shipments of small goods in Europe to "level the playing field" between Chinese and European firms.
Chinese companies Shein and Temu have significantly disrupted the global fashion market in recent years, putting pressure on established businesses, as reported by .
Their rapid growth has been partly due to a tax loophole known as 'de minimis', which allows packages of small goods to be imported free from customs duty.
Last year, over 30 per cent of the shipments to America using the 'de minimus' rule were from Shein and Temu.
"What we have been asking for is a level playing field... in order to have the same set of rules for any single competitors," Oscar Garcia Maceiras told the BBC.
On 2 April, Trump closed the loophole for goods shipped directly from China and Hong Kong, and the º£½ÇÊÓƵ has put the policy under review.
Zara boss joins chorus of voices
Maceiras is not the only retail boss to call for the end of the tax loophole.
George Weston, CEO of Primark's parent company Associated British Foods, has said ending the loophole would be a "positive step" for British businesses.
Sainsbury's CEO Simon Roberts also urged the º£½ÇÊÓƵ government to close the loophole as soon as possible to avoid the risk of lower quality goods being rerouted from the United States to Europe as a result of President Donald Trump's tariffs.
Alex Baldock, the CEO of Currys, has informed the Financial Times that there are already indications of "stock being diverted into European markets in a straightforward dumping way".
"The single biggest area where lots of stock is likely to land in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ - at least in my world - is from the likes of Shein, Temu, Alibaba, TikTok shop, and most of all, Amazon marketplace, [which have a lot of Chinese vendors]," added Baldock.
City AM has reached out to the Treasury for their response.
