Sourcing acetone and ketone solvents from China

Mostly 4%

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 26 September 2026, acetone, butanone, methyl isobutyl ketone, cyclohexanone and methylcyclohexanones, phenylacetone, diacetone alcohol, anthraquinone and other ketones and quinones of heading 2914 carried 4% duty on goods from China, and coenzyme Q10 0% as a pharmaceutical substance or 4% otherwise, with no anti-dumping measure. Many named specialty ketones have their own lines.

Solvent blends and thinners are in heading 3814 and ketone-based preparations are classified by what they are; confirm the commodity code and CAS number.

Precursor controls and hazards

Annex I to the retained drug precursors regulation lists 1-phenyl-2-propanone (phenylacetone) in category 1 and acetone and butanone in category 3. The tariff requires Home Office precursor authorisation for phenylacetone at import, and the Home Office guidance explains the domestic licensing and end-user declaration rules for each category, so check the quantities and uses before ordering acetone or MEK in bulk.

Acetone, MEK and MIBK are highly flammable liquids under GB CLP and dangerous goods for sea and air freight, so drums and IBCs need UN-approved packaging, labels and a safety data sheet, and importers above one tonne a year need a UK REACH registration position.

Worked duty example

An invented example rather than a quote: 20 tonnes of acetone in drums, commodity code 2914 11 00 00, bought for £18,000 free on board, with £3,500 of freight and insurance, so £21,500 is the value customs works from. Duty at the 4% rate for acetone is £860. VAT at 20% applies to £22,360, so £4,472. A VAT-registered buyer usually recovers the VAT, so the border adds £860 to the landed cost. See calculating UK import duty and VAT for the method.

What goes wrong

Solvents fail on purity, water and packaging. Water content above the specification spoils coatings and electronics cleaning, residues and colour exceed the grade, and recovered or recycled solvent can be supplied against an order for virgin material. Drums with poor closures leak or lose volume in hot containers, and paperwork that omits the UN number or packing group stops a booking.

Ask for a certificate of analysis per batch covering assay, water, residue on evaporation and colour, test the first delivery in a UK laboratory, specify virgin material in writing, check UN-marked drums, closures and labels before loading, and confirm the precursor paperwork for acetone and MEK where it applies.

Cambridge China Bridge sources acetone, MEK, MIBK, cyclohexanone and specialty ketones, with purity, dangerous goods packaging and precursor paperwork agreed before shipment. Read how we source solvents and chemicals.