Suppliers for European E-commerce Stores

I’m european, and I just ordered a few units of a product on alibaba I want to start a brand around. I heard I have to pay VAT on top of everything and maybe other taxes that will add a 30% cost to everything…

1. How am I supposed to compete with countries where this doesn’t happen? (USA for example)
2. Where do other Europeans ecom store owners get their products from?
3. Is there a directory of suppliers from EU countries that I can get my product made from? I ordered from Alibaba, but I was wondering if there were any other website like that for europeans