Sourcing densified wood gear blanks from China

Duty on densified wood gear blanks

Heading 4413 covers densified wood in blocks, plates, strips or profile shapes. This guide concerns material blanks for subsequent gear machining. For the broader material family, see densified wood sourcing. If the supplier offers gears with teeth already cut, ask your customs broker to check their classification separately.

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 4 October 2026, commodity code 4413 00 00 00 carried 0% duty for goods from China. The supplied facts list no anti-dumping or countervailing duty, suspensions or attached import controls. Only one commodity line is supplied, so the table contains that line without invented subdivisions.

Confirm the shipped form, wood construction and degree of machining through finding your commodity code. Even though the supplied tariff facts list no attached controls, confirm with OPSS whether densified wood is covered by the UK Timber Regulations and what timber due diligence the importer needs before first placement on the Great Britain market.

Specify the blank before cutting teeth

Give the factory a blank drawing showing outside dimensions, thickness, any pilot bore, machining allowance and the intended orientation of the laminations. State whether you want solid blanks or laminated densified stock. Agree density, hardness, moisture condition, resin system and bond quality against an approved sample. Describe the mating gear, service load, speed and exposure to water or lubricants so the supplier can propose a material for trial machining.

Collect species, country of harvest and legal-harvest evidence for the timber supply chain before shipment. Operators can develop their own due diligence system or use one provided by an approved monitoring organisation. Keep the material specification and timber documents tied to the production batch.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: 2,000 densified wood gear blanks, illustrative order under 4413 00 00 00, invoiced at £18,000 free on board, with £2,500 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £20,500. Duty at 0% is £0. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £20,500, so it is £4,100. 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

Dimensions: measure blank thickness, outside dimensions, flatness and any pilot bore against the drawing; confirm enough stock remains for final machining.

Material: check density and moisture against the agreed grade, and compare the lamination direction and appearance with the approved sample.

Bonding and machining: cut trial teeth and a bore in a sample blank; inspect for open glue lines, delamination, edge breakout and cracks.

Packing and traceability: check for damp wrapping, mould and chipped edges; match batch identification to material and timber records. Set these checks out in your inspection brief.

What goes wrong

A blank can meet its outside dimensions yet fail during tooth cutting. Weak bonds open at the tooth roots, poorly supported edges chip, and an unsuitable lamination direction gives uneven machining. Damp blanks can distort after the bore and teeth are finished. Trial machining and a controlled sample approval are more useful than accepting a generic material name.

A repeat batch may use different wood or resin while looking similar. Specify how material changes are approved, compare incoming batches with the retained sample, and collect timber records before dispatch. Do not treat a density result as proof of harvest legality.

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.