Sourcing capacitors from China

0% duty

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 27 September 2026, electrical capacitors, fixed, variable or adjustable, heading 8532, carried 0% on goods from China on every line: power capacitors for 50/60 Hz circuits of 0.5 kvar or more, tantalum, aluminium electrolytic, single-layer and multilayer ceramic, paper or plastic film and other fixed capacitors, variable capacitors, and parts. No line carried an anti-dumping measure.

Supercapacitors and capacitor banks with switching gear can be classified differently, so confirm the commodity code. Resistors are covered in our resistors guide and bare boards in our printed circuit boards guide.

Standards and restricted substances

Fixed capacitors for electronic equipment are specified to the IEC 60384 series, shunt power capacitors for low-voltage AC systems to IEC 60831, and parts for vehicles are usually qualified to AEC-Q200. Components going into electrical products sold in the UK must let the finished product meet the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2012, so ask for RoHS declarations and material data for each part number.

Specifying capacitors

Specify capacitance and tolerance, rated voltage, dielectric type (such as X7R or C0G for ceramics), temperature range, for electrolytics the ripple current, ESR and rated life at temperature, case size and lead or terminal style, safety class for mains suppression capacitors (X or Y), and reel or tray packing.

Worked duty example

An invented example rather than a quote: 500,000 aluminium electrolytic capacitors, commodity code 8532 22 00 00, bought for £18,000 free on board, with £600 of freight and insurance, so £18,600 is the value customs works from. No duty is due on electrolytic capacitors; import VAT at 20% of £18,600 is £3,720. If you are VAT-registered, that VAT is normally reclaimable. See calculating UK import duty and VAT for the method.

Inspection checklist

Values: measure capacitance, dissipation factor and leakage current on samples from each lot, and check markings and case size against the datasheet.

Authenticity and age: check the maker's labels and date codes, since aged or relabelled electrolytics lose life, and confirm the source is the maker or an authorised distributor.

Packing and documents: check reels are sealed with moisture labelling where needed, and RoHS declarations and certificates of conformance match the part numbers.

What goes wrong

Capacitor orders fail on substitution, life and authenticity. A lower temperature grade is supplied under the same value, electrolytics have a shorter rated life than ordered and dry out early, ceramic capacitors crack on boards that flex, mains capacitors lack the safety approval, and open-market parts turn out to be recycled.

Buy against a full part number, measure samples, and trace the source. See our quality inspection guide.

Cambridge China Bridge sources capacitors and other passives for UK electronics makers, and can add lot checks to an existing supplier. See existing suppliers.