Sourcing Belleville disc springs from China

UK duty on Belleville disc springs

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 4 November 2026, steel disc springs under 7320 90 30 90 carried 0% duty for goods from China. The supplied extract lists no anti-dumping or countervailing duty, steel measure, suspension or import control for this line.

Heading 7320 covers springs and leaves for springs of iron or steel. This guide covers conical Belleville disc springs; the supplied facts contain only a single disc-spring line. Other spring families appear in the steel springs guide.

Spring washers classify elsewhere according to the site's wider spring guide. Send the drawing and intended function to your customs broker and confirm the commodity code. For the illustrative order, use UK import duty and VAT to assess the border taxes.

Specify the disc and the assembled stack

Specify steel grade, outside and inside diameters, thickness, free height, contact surfaces and finish. State the force required at each agreed deflection, the acceptance tolerances and the test method. Agree whether testing covers an individual disc, the assembled stack or both.

Show the orientation and arrangement of nested and opposed discs on an assembly drawing. Define the working travel, preload, guide clearance and service environment. Ask for material certificates, heat-treatment records and fatigue testing where repeated loading matters.

Obtain composition information for the steel and coating before sale in Great Britain. Inclusion of a substance on the UK REACH Candidate List brings supplier obligations; check the applicable duties rather than accepting an unspecified compliance declaration.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: Illustrative order: 200,000 small steel Belleville disc springs under 7320 90 30 90, invoiced at £18,000 free on board, with £1,500 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £19,500. Duty at 0% is £0. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £19,500, so it is £3,900. With no duty, the only import tax is the VAT, which a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim. The import duty and VAT guide explains each step.

Inspection checklist

Geometry: measure diameters, thickness and free height against the drawing; inspect contact edges for burrs, cracks and tooling damage.

Force and travel: use a calibrated tester to check force at the agreed deflections; compare results across the batch and check residual deformation after unloading.

Material and finish: match certificates to batch identity, check hardness and heat-treatment records, and inspect coating coverage and corrosion. For plated high-strength springs, check the agreed hydrogen-embrittlement precautions and baking records.

Stack and packing: assemble samples in the specified orientation, check movement on the intended guide and verify assembled force and travel. Keep different sizes and batches separated and protected from moisture.

What goes wrong

A disc can fit the assembly yet give the wrong force because thickness, free height or heat treatment differs from the drawing. Burrs and surface damage can initiate fatigue cracks. Permanent flattening changes preload, while corrosion and plating-related hydrogen embrittlement can cause premature failure.

Incorrect stack orientation changes the force and travel available. Approve an assembled sample as well as individual discs, and agree how failed batches will be identified and contained. Use a written inspection brief that includes the drawing, load test and batch records.

Cambridge China Bridge sources these products for UK businesses, checking the factory and the documents before shipment. See factory verification. For repeat volumes, see container programmes.