France is hoping a new tax on ultra-fast fashion will dampen demand for cheap clothes. New legislation came into effect on September 1, after a long-running political debate and a final green light from the French parliament in June. It’s a step forward that may inspire progress elsewhere, although it is not expected to squash demand for low-value, environmentally damaging clothes overnight.
The law imposes extra costs on garments, shoes, and household textiles defined as “ultra-fast fashion”, essentially penalizing the volume of products on sale. It sits alongside the right to repair, which came into effect in June, and aims to make repair more affordable than buying new. Shein and Temu are targeted, while European retailers such as H&M or Zara are exempt — a distinction designed to support local businesses, which has proven controversial in sustainable fashion circles.
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“Behind the rock-bottom prices of ultra-fashion lie very real costs: pollution, wasted resources, unfair competition, and the undermining of the companies that play by the rules,” ecological transition minister Monique Barbut said in a June government statement.
The French move comes against the backdrop of a much-needed international drive to increase circularity and limit environmental damage from the fashion sector. But policymakers face an uphill battle. EU textiles consumption increased from 17kg per person in 2019 to 19kg in 2022. And an estimated 4-9% of all textile products put on the European market are destroyed before use: between 264,000 and 594,000 tons every year, according to figures released by the European Environment Agency (EEA) in March 2025.
The tax adds between €0.25 and €12 to ultra-fast fashion items in 2026, rising to between €2.20 and €20 by 2030 (capped at 50% of the product’s price).
Industry experts believe the law should suppress some demand, even if it is not expected to sound the death knell for cheap clothes straightaway.
“Low-price sellers will have to take a hit on margins, increase prices, or enact a mix of both — none of which is good for the business model,” says Neil Saunders, managing director of retail at analytics consultancy Globaldata.
Inevitably, some of that cost will be passed on to consumers. “Taxes aimed at disrupting fast fashion’s artificial affordability, slowing down its pace and impact, and forcing companies to pay for the damage caused are welcome,” says Louise Gracia, professor of accounting at Warwick Business School in the UK. But Saunders cautions: “Even with the tax, the prices will still be cheaper than a lot of mainstream fashion, so no one should expect the fast fashion sector to disappear.”
This is not the only attempt to undermine the fast fashion business model. The EU also closed the de minimis loophole, which previously allowed imported packages under the value of €150 to avoid customs charges, following the US. As of July 2026, a flat fee of €3 applies. Experts say such measures contributed to Shein debuting on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange this week with a significantly lower valuation than its prior peak.
“Fast fashion giants like Shein and Temu will have their low-cost competitive advantage eroded by these taxes and advertising restrictions,” says Gracia. “This financial pressure may encourage them to curb current approaches and investigate ways of improving their environmental eco-scores.” However, she notes that China has already labeled the measures discriminatory, stating they may violate World Trade Organization (WTO) principles.
Unintended consequences
Samantha Harman, personal stylist and author of Just Get Dressed, agrees that with slim margins, ultra-fast fashion giants will have little choice but to increase prices — “unless it plans to sell significantly more product, which would be disastrously the opposite of what the levy aims to achieve.”
