Sourcing citric acid and food acids from China

Rates by acid

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 27 September 2026, citric acid, trisodium citrate and other citrates, and tartaric acid carried a base rate of 6% on goods from China, lactic acid and its salts and esters 0%, and gluconic acid and acetylsalicylic acid 0% for listed pharmaceutical substances and 6% for others. None had an anti-dumping measure.

Suspensions change most of these to 0%: anhydrous citric acid and citric acid monohydrate from 1 July 2026, trisodium citrate dihydrate and acetylsalicylic acid until 31 December 2028, and L-(+)-tartaric acid until 31 December 2026. Trimagnesium dicitrate (magnesium citrate, CAS RN 3344-18-1) within 2918 15 00 90 is also suspended to 0% until 30 June 2027. They do not cover mixtures, and each is claimed on the declaration with the document code shown on the tariff. Separate lines for goods consigned from Malaysia do not apply to shipments from China. Confirm the commodity code with the CAS number.

Food additive purity

Citric acid (E 330), sodium citrates (E 331), lactic acid (E 270) and tartaric acid (E 334) used in food must meet the purity criteria for each additive on the FSA register of authorised food additives. Ask for a certificate of analysis per batch showing assay, heavy metals and oxalate where relevant, and for food-grade production evidence. For MSG procurement, see our ethanolamines and amino acids guide. For ascorbic acid, see our ascorbic acid sourcing guide.

REACH and medicines

Importing a substance into Great Britain at one tonne or more a year generally needs UK REACH registration, unless an exemption applies, including for qualifying food and medicinal uses. Aspirin or other acids for medicines need MHRA active substance registration; the heterocyclics guide explains the pharmaceutical duty codes.

Worked duty example

Suppose, purely for illustration, you import 25 tonnes of anhydrous citric acid under 2918 14 00 90. At £22,000 free on board and £2,500 to ship and insure, the customs value is £24,500. With the suspension claimed the duty is nil, where before 1 July 2026 it was 6%, or £1,470; import VAT at 20% of £24,500 is £4,900, which a VAT-registered business normally reclaims. VAT treatment can differ for food ingredients, so confirm the rate for the exact use. The method is set out in how UK import duty and VAT work.

Inspection checklist

Identity and form: assay by titration against the specification for the additive on the FSA register or the relevant pharmacopoeia monograph, water content by the Karl Fischer method of ISO 760 to tell anhydrous citric acid from monohydrate, and specific optical rotation checked on tartaric acid, since only L-(+)-tartaric acid qualifies for the suspension.

Impurities: lead and other heavy metals by ICP, oxalate, sulphate and readily carbonisable substances on citric acid, and chloride and sulphate on the citrates, each against the food or pharmaceutical grade ordered, with the test methods named on the certificate of analysis.

Particle size and packing: sieve analysis against the mesh ordered, a caking check on bags opened at inspection, polyethylene-lined bags with lot numbers matching the certificate, and the suspension claimed on the declaration with the document code the tariff gives, with evidence of the exact substance kept on file.

What goes wrong

Food acids fail on moisture, grade and paperwork. Citric acid that picks up moisture cakes into solid blocks in the bag, monohydrate is supplied against an anhydrous order, and particle size differs from the mesh ordered so it blends and dissolves differently. Food-grade lots sometimes arrive with technical-grade certificates, and bags lack the lot numbers needed to trace them.

Ask for a certificate of analysis per lot against the food additive purity specification, check form (anhydrous or monohydrate) and mesh size, test moisture on arrival, check lined bags, pallet wrap and a dry container, and confirm lot numbers on every bag match the certificates.

Packing and inspection

Citric acid cakes if it takes on moisture, so specify lined bags, pallet wrapping and a dry container. At inspection, check bag labels, lot numbers and weights, and sample for a UK laboratory test.

Cambridge China Bridge sources citric, lactic and tartaric acids and citrates, with grade, purity and REACH settled before the order. See how our sourcing service works.

Related guides: Phosphoric acid from China. For other acids, see our acetic acid, formic acid and acetates guide.