Shipping from China to the UK

What can you import from China?

Cargo moving on this lane into the UK is typically:

• Industrial machinery and parts
• Scotch whisky and premium beverages
• Pharmaceuticals and medical devices
• Automotive components and vehicles
• Cosmetics and branded consumer goods

Anything palletised, crated or containerised moves on this lane as standard, and the list above is not a limit — it is what we see most of. Cargo needs to be palletised, shrink-wrapped and labelled with the consignee, and anything containing lithium batteries, aerosols, paints, solvents or compressed gas has to be declared at booking.

What export tax and duty applies in China?

Most countries do not charge duty on goods leaving, and where a levy or surcharge does apply it is normally the supplier's cost and already inside the price you have been quoted. We confirm the position in China for your commodity at quote stage rather than estimating it.

What matters far more to your landed cost is the invoice itself. UK duty is calculated from the transaction value on the supplier's commercial invoice, so an invoice that understates the goods to save something at the origin becomes your problem at the UK border — and an undervalued entry is your liability as the importer, not the seller's.

What are the export restrictions in China?

Restrictions on this lane are almost all pre-shipment. A permit that had to be issued before the goods left cannot be obtained once they have arrived, and cargo sitting at a UK terminal while somebody tries is cargo accruing storage and demurrage. These are the ones that most often catch a first shipment:

What documents do you need to export from China?

This set comes from your supplier, not from you. We cannot obtain it on their behalf — an export declaration is filed by the exporting business in its own country — so the practical move is to send this list to them before the first order rather than chasing it once the vessel has sailed.

What documents do you need in the UK to import?

A second, separate set — and this one is yours. We make the declaration and handle the entry, but the EORI and the commercial detail behind it have to come from you, and a shipment addressed to an importer who does not hold one cannot be cleared by anybody.

What UK import tax and duty will you pay?

Two separate charges land on a UK import, and they are calculated differently. Customs duty comes first, set by the commodity code of the goods under the UK Global Tariff and charged on the customs value — the price paid, plus freight and insurance to the UK border. Import VAT is then charged at the standard 20% rate on that total including the duty, so VAT is paid on the duty as well as on the goods.

Duty is the figure worth checking before you commit to a price, because it varies enormously by commodity and there is no useful average. Many manufactured goods land between 0% and 12%; textiles and footwear sit higher; some categories are duty free. Send us the commodity codes with your enquiry and we will confirm the rate that applies rather than quoting you a range.

Where a trade agreement covers the goods, a valid proof of preferential origin can reduce the duty to zero. It has to be issued correctly and held at the time of import — a claim made later, without the paperwork, is not accepted, and the duty already paid is not refunded.

Import VAT is usually the larger number and usually the one that alarms a first-time importer, but for a VAT-registered business it is not a cost. Postponed VAT accounting lets you declare and recover it on the same return rather than paying it at the border and waiting to reclaim it, which removes the cash-flow hit entirely. We set this up on your declarations as standard unless you tell us otherwise.