That's why you get certain allowances of how much you are allowed to bring back with you - say up to 200 cartons of cigarettes are free to bring over and that's clearly not something that you brought with you.
> Other goods (including perfume, coffee, tea, electronic devices etc.)(a) - Up to a value of €430 for air and sea travellers
If you travel to the USA for a week and buy something, that's subject to import duty.