You're mixing concepts. In the EU you'll generally pay VAT on all imports, but there are still often de minimis rules for import tariffs. This is not unlike the

You're mixing concepts. In the EU you'll generally pay VAT on all imports, but there are still often de minimis rules for import tariffs. This is not unlike the US - I have to always pay sales tax on imports regardless of value (unless it's being resold or incorporated into a product and I have an appropriate resale certificate, because sales tax is generally only required on final sale in the US), but import tariffs have a de minimus threshold. I'm not saying the primary objective of a de minimus policy is to help small businesses, but in practice it can make a huge difference to correct for economies of scale to promote competition. I can't afford a team of lawyers and lobbyists to creatively classify my products to avoid tariffs like the big companies do; regulatory burden disproportionately hurts smaller players, so it's typically considered good policy to promote competition to phase in regulations based on size/volume/revenue etc.