Importing From China to the UK: Customs Steps for Traders

The first question when you import from China into the UK isn't the duty rate. It's whether your company can be the importer at all.

That sounds backwards for a guide about customs. But for a Hong Kong or Singapore trading company, the practical questions come before the tariff: can we get an EORI number without UK premises, and who signs the import declaration if we can't? Answer them late and the goods sit at the port while you work it out.

Containers don't wait for paperwork. Storage charges start while the forms catch up.

This guide is written for a Hong Kong or Singapore trading company that buys from Chinese suppliers and sells into the UK. It follows the order GOV.UK uses: who imports, the EORI number, the commodity code, the customs value, duty and import VAT, and who makes the declaration. Then it covers freight and how to pay the supplier and collect GBP.

It is based on research conducted in October 2026 using guidance from GOV.UK and HMRC, Drewry’s freight index, and the payment flows we see from Statrys clients trading between China and other markets.

Step 1: Decide Who Imports the Goods

The importer is whoever is responsible for the goods at the UK border, and your sales terms with the UK customer decide who that is. Settle it before you quote, because the importer pays the duty and import VAT.

Under DAP (delivered at place), you deliver to your customer and the customer imports the goods and pays the charges. Under DDP (delivered duty paid), your company is the importer and pays everything before the goods are released. Our guide on how to import from China covers how these terms shift cost and risk.

If your company takes the DDP route, two GOV.UK rules apply:

• Customs representation. A business not established in the UK, and not carrying out certain specific customs activities, must "appoint someone to deal with customs on your behalf". GOV.UK adds that not having an EORI "does not preclude you from trading", provided you use an indirect representative, an agent who acts in its own name and shares responsibility for the declaration.
• VAT registration. HMRC's VAT manual says a non-established taxable person, a business with no UK establishment that makes taxable supplies in the UK, must notify HMRC of its liability to register “regardless of the value of the taxable supply”. Selling goods that are already in the UK to UK customers counts.

Step 2: Get an EORI Number, or Use Your Agent's

An EORI (Economic Operators Registration and Identification) number identifies a business to UK customs. GOV.UK's import step-by-step guide is direct: "You need an Economic Operators Registration and Identification number (EORI number) that starts with GB to import goods into England, Wales or Scotland."

The catch for an overseas company is establishment. GOV.UK's guidance on who should register for an EORI limits GB EORI numbers for businesses not established in the UK to a short list of customs activities, such as transit declarations or acting as a carrier. Everyone else appoints a representative, and that representative's EORI goes on the declaration.

In practice, a Hong Kong or Singapore company selling DDP usually works through a UK customs agent acting as its indirect representative. Agree that arrangement before the first shipment leaves China.

Step 3: Find the Commodity Code

The commodity code is the number that classifies your goods in the UK tariff. GOV.UK says it "will determine the rate of duty you need to pay and if you need an import licence."

You look it up in the UK Trade Tariff tool on GOV.UK, or your customs agent classifies the goods for you. A wrong code means the wrong duty, and the importer carries that risk. Get the code confirmed before you price the order, not after the first declaration.

Step 4: Work Out the Customs Value

The customs value is the figure duty and VAT are calculated on. The first valuation method, transaction value, starts from the price paid for the goods.

GOV.UK's guidance on delivery costs to include in the customs value says transport and insurance count "up to the place of introduction" into the UK. It lists peak season, security, war risk and port congestion surcharges as costs to include, along with currency and fuel adjustment factors. UK transport after the border can be left out if it is shown separately.

Every surcharge on the freight invoice therefore raises the value you pay duty and VAT on. Ask your forwarder for an itemised invoice that separates costs before and after the UK border.

Step 5: Calculate Duty and Import VAT

Duty comes from the commodity code, and import VAT is 20% of the customs value plus duty plus delivery costs to the first UK destination. Neither can be estimated properly until Steps 3 and 4 are done.

Duty on Goods From China

The UK has no trade agreement in effect with China, according to GOV.UK's list of UK trade agreements. Goods originating in China therefore pay the rate shown against their commodity code in the UK tariff, with no free trade discount to claim. This guide doesn't advise on the rate for any specific product, since it depends entirely on the code.

Import VAT

The standard UK VAT rate is 20% on most goods. GOV.UK says import VAT is based on the customs value, plus customs duty, plus incidental expenses such as commission, packing, transport and insurance to the goods' first UK destination.

A UK VAT-registered importer can use postponed VAT accounting, which means declaring and recovering the import VAT on the same VAT return instead of paying it at the border. GOV.UK says a non-established business that is registered for UK VAT can use it too, through the person it appoints to deal with customs, provided it gives that person written confirmation. Without it, the VAT is paid upfront and reclaimed later using the import VAT certificate (C79).

Low-Value Consignments

Different rules apply to consignments of GBP 135 or less sold directly to UK customers. GOV.UK says the seller charges and accounts for UK VAT at the point of sale for these, unless the customer is VAT registered and gives its VAT number. That rule is aimed at online sales to individuals. Container loads to business customers follow the normal import process.

Step 6: Make the Import Declaration

GOV.UK says most businesses that import "use a transporter or customs agent", who will "make the declaration and get your goods through the UK border". The importer can file the declaration itself, but an overseas company usually can't, for the establishment reasons in Step 2.

Anyone dealing with customs on your behalf must be established in Great Britain or Northern Ireland. The agent can also pay duty through a duty deferment account, which GOV.UK describes as one monthly Direct Debit with charges delayed by an average of 30 days. Keep commercial invoices and customs records, including any C79 certificate, because GOV.UK requires them to be kept.

Freight and Forwarders

A freight forwarder books the shipping and handles the transport paperwork, and many also arrange the customs agent. Get at least two quotes, and ask each forwarder to list surcharges separately, because those surcharges sit inside the customs value.

For a sense of the market, Drewry's World Container Index put the Shanghai to Rotterdam rate at USD 3,522 per 40-foot container on 15 October 2026, up 6% on the week. Rotterdam is a North Europe benchmark rather than a UK port, so treat it as a reference point and price the actual route with your forwarder.

Worked Example: One 40-Foot Container

The example below shows how duty and import VAT build up on one shipment. The goods value, freight costs, insurance and duty rate are illustrative, not quotes or product advice. The 20% VAT rate and the calculation order are GOV.UK's.

Assume goods bought for GBP 40,000 on FOB terms (free on board, so the price stops at the Chinese port), sea freight to a UK port of GBP 2,800 including surcharges, and insurance of GBP 200. Assume a duty rate of 4% for the commodity code.

With postponed VAT accounting, the GBP 8,944 of VAT is declared and recovered on the same VAT return, so the cash cost at the border falls to the GBP 1,720 of duty plus agent fees. Without it, the full GBP 10,664 is due before release and the VAT comes back later.

Surcharges matter here too. Every GBP 100 of extra freight adds GBP 4 of duty and GBP 20.80 of VAT in this example.

Paying the Supplier and Collecting GBP

A trading company in this flow usually pays out in Chinese yuan or US dollars and gets paid in pounds. Each conversion costs money, so the setup that works best keeps every currency in an account you can pay from and get paid into directly.

Statrys is built for this flow. A Hong Kong business account holds 11 currencies, including CNY, USD and GBP. That means you can pay a supplier in Shenzhen and collect from a customer in Manchester without opening accounts in either country.

• Pay suppliers in CNY. CNY is among the currencies a Statrys business account can send, with FX fees from 0.1% for major currencies, as shown on the Hong Kong pricing page. Our guide on how to pay Chinese suppliers compares the payment methods and includes a checklist for when a supplier says its bank details have changed.
• Get paid like a UK company. Eligible clients with a Hong Kong business account can add UK local currency account details with a sort code and account number. Your UK customers then pay you as they would pay any domestic supplier. Requests are usually reviewed within 1 to 2 working days, and sending GBP is free.
• Convert only when you choose to. Funds stay in the currency they arrive in until you decide to move them between your Statrys accounts. You can also time the conversion around your next supplier payment.

Statrys business accounts are available to companies incorporated in Hong Kong, Singapore or the BVI. Clients with only a Singapore account can open a Hong Kong business account first. 96% of clients opened their accounts within 3 business days, and the whole application is online.

Open a Statrys business account to pay in CNY and collect GBP from one place.

If you also sell into Australia, our guide to importing from China to Australia covers the same steps for AUD.