Gold powder, wire and sheet from China

0% duty

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 27 September 2026, heading 7108 covers gold, including gold plated with platinum, unwrought or in semi-manufactured forms, or in powder form. All 5 lines carried 0% on goods from China, with no anti-dumping measure: powder, other unwrought forms, bars, rods, wire, sections, plates, sheets and strips over 0.15 mm thick, other semi-manufactured forms, and monetary gold.

Gold jewellery is heading 7113 (see our jewellery guide), and silver is heading 7106 (see our silver guide); confirm the commodity code.

VAT and responsible sourcing

VAT Notice 701/21 defines investment gold as gold of a purity not less than 995 thousandths in the form of a bar or wafer of a weight accepted by the bullion markets, or qualifying gold coins, and investment gold is exempt from VAT subject to an option to tax. Other gold, such as bonding wire, sheet, powder and alloys, is standard-rated, so import VAT at 20% applies.

Gold is one of the minerals covered by OECD due diligence guidance for conflict-affected areas, and many buyers ask for the refiner's responsible gold certification and chain of custody. HMRC also expects buyers to check where gold has come from and that it was properly declared at import.

Specifying gold

Specify fineness, alloy or dopants (for bonding wire), dimensions and tolerances, mechanical properties such as elongation and breaking load for wire, surface finish, spool or packing format, assay certificate, refiner identity and chain of custody.

Worked duty example

An invented example rather than a quote: 2 kg of gold bonding wire for electronics, commodity code 7108 13 10 00, bought for £120,000 free on board, with £1,500 of freight and insurance, so £121,500 is the value customs works from. No duty is due on gold wire; import VAT at 20% of £121,500 is £24,300. If you are VAT-registered, that VAT is normally reclaimable. That is for non-investment gold; investment gold bars and wafers are VAT-exempt. See calculating UK import duty and VAT for the method.

Inspection checklist

Documents: check the assay certificate, refiner identity, chain of custody and export documents against the order.

Laboratory: verify fineness by XRF screening and, for high values, fire assay at an independent laboratory.

Weight and packing: weigh on calibrated scales under supervision, and check spools, sealed packing and insured, secure transport.

What goes wrong

Gold orders fail on fineness, weight and provenance. Fineness or dopant content differs from the certificate, weights fall short, documents cannot show where the gold came from, and VAT is mishandled because the goods are wrongly treated as investment gold.

Assay independently, weigh under supervision, and confirm the VAT treatment first. See our quality inspection guide.

Cambridge China Bridge sources gold wire and semi-manufactures for UK electronics and dental users, checking the refiner's certification and assay records first. See factory verification.