GABRIEL GROUP

The conflict in the Middle East has reached a point where it's actively reshaping how goods move from China to Europe. The Red Sea and Suez Canal — the corridor that carries a large share of container traffic between Asia and Europe — are effectively closed.

Ships have been rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope, adding time and cost to every shipment. If you're importing goods from China for the European market, now is the time to plan differently.

The EU is gradually closing the loopholes that allowed small parcels from China to enter with almost no customs duties. This means that small, one‑off orders will become less profitable, while serious bulk importing will once again come to the forefront.

New rules have already been adopted to curb unfair competition from cheap e‑commerce shipments and to bring small parcels from China under the same regime as standard imports. In practice, this means a flat customs duty of €3 on small consignments, followed by the removal of the €150 threshold for charging customs duties.

For end consumers this is a price increase, but for bulk importers it is a clear signal that trading conditions will level out and that the time has come for more serious planning of B2B imports from China.

When you buy a tractor from China, the key question is not just the price, but how to choose the right model and a reliable manufacturer – and then be sure the machine is truly high-quality and safely packed for transport. That is why our work does not start at the factory, but much earlier – when we help the client select the right tractor for their needs, and it ends only once the tractor is loaded into the container and ready to ship.

This time, we provided a complete service for a customer who needed four tractors with different power ratings. Our job was to find the right model and manufacturer, inspect the tractors at the factory and supervise the entire container loading process.