Sourcing car, van and lorry tyres from China
New pneumatic car, van, motorcycle and industrial tyres from China pay 4% UK duty. Bus and lorry tyres with a load index over 121 pay 4.5% plus £45.71 anti-dumping and £64.41 countervailing duty per tyre at residual rates. Road tyres need UN approval marks, and car, van and lorry tyres need an EU-style tyre label. Cambridge China Bridge sources tyres.
New car and van tyres from China pay 4% UK duty; lorry tyres over load index 121 add per-tyre anti-dumping and countervailing duty. Approvals and an example.
Rates and trade remedies
Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 26 September 2026, new pneumatic rubber tyres of heading 4011 for cars, vans, motorcycles, bicycles, agricultural and forestry machines and construction or industrial handling machines carried 4% on goods from China, and are declared by number of tyres.
Tyres for buses or lorries with a load index over 121 (4011 20 90 00) carried 4.5% plus an anti-dumping duty of £45.71 per tyre and a countervailing duty of £64.41 per tyre for all other exporters, running to October and November 2028; a named exporter group has its own lower rates on presentation of an invoice declaration, so ask your broker how the measures combine before quoting. Lorry tyres with a load index of 121 or less, which covers most van tyres, have no trade remedy. Retreaded and solid tyres are in our solid and retreaded tyres guide.
| Goods | Commodity code | Duty | Anti-dumping duty on China |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres for motor cars | 4011 10 00 00 | 4% | None |
| Bus or lorry tyres, load index 121 or less | 4011 20 10 00 | 4% | None |
| Bus or lorry tyres, load index over 121 | 4011 20 90 00 | 4.5% | £45.71 per tyre, plus £64.41 per tyre countervailing duty (residual rates) |
| Motorcycle tyres | 4011 40 00 00 | 4% | None |
| Agricultural or forestry tyres | 4011 70 00 00 | 4% | None |
| Construction, mining or industrial handling tyres | 4011 80 00 00 | 4% | None |
Approvals and labels
Tyres supplied for road vehicles fall under the [Motor Vehicle Tyres (Safety) Regulations 1994](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1994/3117/contents). New road tyres are normally approved to UN Regulation No. 30 for cars, No. 54 for commercial vehicles or No. 75 for motorcycles, with the E-mark and approval number moulded on the sidewall, and to No. 117 for rolling noise, wet grip and rolling resistance; ask for the approval certificates for every size and load index you buy.
Car, van and lorry tyres also carry a label showing fuel efficiency, wet grip and external rolling noise under retained [Regulation (EC) No 1222/2009](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2009/1222/contents), on a sticker on the tread or in the documentation for lorry tyres, so ask the factory for the label values and the test reports behind them.
Worked duty example
Take a hypothetical order of 2,000 passenger car tyres, entered under 4011 10 00 00: £60,000 free on board plus £5,000 of freight and insurance gives a customs value of £65,000. The 4% duty on car tyres comes to £2,600, and import VAT is 20% of £67,600, which is £13,520. If you are VAT-registered you normally reclaim the £13,520, leaving £2,600 as the real cost at the border. Step by step: UK import duty and VAT.
What goes wrong
Tyres fail on approval, age and construction. Sidewalls carry copied or missing E-marks, label grades are better than the test reports support, tyres arrive already a year or more old by their DOT date code, and belts, beads or tread joins show defects that cause vibration, bulges or air loss.
Check the E-mark, approval number, size, load index, speed rating and date code on every sampled tyre against the certificates, compare label grades with the Regulation No. 117 and label test reports, inspect beads, sidewalls and tread joins, check uniformity and balance on a sample where the buyer has the equipment, and store and ship tyres upright away from heat and ozone sources.
Cambridge China Bridge sources car, van, agricultural and industrial tyres for distributors and fleets, usually by the full container, with approvals checked before the order. See our container programmes.
Frequently asked questions
What is the UK import duty on car tyres from China?
Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 26 September 2026, new car tyres of 4011 10 00 00 carried 4% from China.
Is there anti-dumping duty on Chinese lorry tyres?
Yes, on bus and lorry tyres with a load index over 121: £45.71 per tyre anti-dumping and £64.41 per tyre countervailing duty at residual rates, on top of 4.5%.
Which approvals do road tyres need?
UN Regulation No. 30, 54 or 75 by vehicle type, and No. 117 for noise, wet grip and rolling resistance, with the E-mark on the sidewall.
How do I check tyres are not old stock?
Read the four-digit week and year date code on the sidewall of sampled tyres before shipment.