Sourcing hand tool sets from China

2% duty

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 26 September 2026, tools of two or more of headings 8202 to 8205 put up in sets for retail sale carried 2% duty on goods from China, with no anti-dumping measure. A set of spanners only, or sockets only, stays in its own heading at 0%, and sets of different tools within heading 8205 have their own line, so the mix decides the commodity code.

Tool standards

Sockets and their drive squares are dimensioned under ISO 2725 and ISO 1174, spanner openings and tolerances under ISO 691, and screwdriver blades under ISO 2380 for slotted and ISO 8764 for cross-recessed tips. Torque wrenches in a set should be calibrated to ISO 6789 with a certificate. Stamping a standard on a tool is only meaningful if the factory measures to it, so ask for the dimensional and hardness report for each size.

Chrome vanadium steel is the usual claim for sockets and spanners, and S2 steel for screwdriver bits; ask for the grade and the heat-treatment hardness. Insulated tools for electrical work must meet BS EN 60900 for work up to 1,000 V AC, with each tool marked and tested. Tool sets sold to consumers are covered by the General Product Safety Regulations 2005. See the pliers and cutting tools guide and the garden tools guide.

Worked duty example

For a made-up shipment of 5,000 socket and screwdriver sets in blow-moulded cases under 8206 00 00 00, add the £4,000 of freight and insurance to the £75,000 free-on-board price and customs sees £79,000. At 2%, duty on these tool sets is £1,580; import VAT of £16,116 is 20% of the value with duty added. Together that is £17,696, but a VAT-registered importer usually gets the VAT back. Sold loose, the sockets and spanners in these sets would pay 0% and the screwdrivers 2%. The duty and VAT guide walks through the calculation.

What goes wrong

Tool sets fail on hardness, fit and cases. Sockets split and spanners spread at the jaws because the steel was too soft or through-hardened unevenly, while over-hard bits snap. Sockets are loose on fasteners and round off nuts because the opening is oversize, ratchets slip under load, and chrome plating peels. Blow-moulded cases crack, latches break, and tools fall out of their places in transit, so the set arrives incomplete.

Measure socket and spanner openings with gauges against ISO 691 and ISO 2725, test hardness on each size, run a proof torque test on sockets, ratchets and spanners, check screwdriver tips against ISO 2380 and ISO 8764 gauges, test ratchets for slip, check plating adhesion, and drop-test packed cases with every tool counted in place.

Cambridge China Bridge sources socket, spanner, screwdriver and mixed hand tool sets for retail and trade brands, with torque and hardness tests agreed before production. See our tool set sourcing service.