Sourcing marble and granite stone from China

Zero duty

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 25 September 2026, tiles, cubes and similar articles with a largest face under 7 cm square, other monumental or building stone simply cut or sawn, and other worked stone of marble, travertine, alabaster, granite, calcareous or other stone, carved or not, carried 0% duty on goods from China, with no anti-dumping measure.

Slate is in heading 6803 and engineered quartz in chapter 68 elsewhere, covered in the quartz worktops guide. Confirm the commodity code. For concrete roofing materials, see our concrete roof tile sourcing guide.

Construction product rules

Natural stone tiles, slabs for cladding and paving units are construction products under the retained Construction Products Regulation where a designated standard applies, needing a declaration of performance and UKCA or CE marking, with properties such as flexural strength, water absorption and slip resistance. Memorials and carvings are consumer or bespoke products outside those standards. For memorial orders, see our granite headstone sourcing guide.

Selection and finish

Stone varies by block, so approve slabs or a range sample, and specify thickness, tolerance, finish (polished, honed or flamed), edge profile and sealing. Ask for the quarry name and stone type, because trade names can hide different stone.

Worked duty example

Suppose, purely for illustration, you import one container of polished granite worktop slabs under 6802 93 90 90. At £18,000 free on board and £3,500 to ship and insure, the customs value is £21,500. With 0% duty on granite slabs, the only charge is import VAT: 20% of £21,500, or £4,300. VAT-registered businesses usually recover that in their next return. The method is set out in how UK import duty and VAT work.

Inspection checklist

Stone properties: water absorption to BS EN 13755, flexural strength to BS EN 12372, apparent density and open porosity to BS EN 1936, frost resistance to BS EN 12371 for outdoor use and slip resistance by the pendulum test of BS EN 14231 for floors, with the declared values checked against the product standard, such as BS EN 12057 for tiles, BS EN 12058 for slabs and BS EN 1341 for paving.

Dimensions and finish: thickness, length, width, flatness and squareness measured on sampled pieces against the tolerances of the same product standard, polish checked with a gloss meter against the approved sample, faces inspected under raking light for resin-filled fissures and hairline cracks, and a range of tiles dry-laid to judge colour and veining.

Worktops and packing: cut-outs, edge profiles and splashbacks checked against the templates, bookmatched slabs kept in sequence and numbered, A-frames and crates braced and ISPM 15 marked, and the container weight checked against the payload so heavy slabs are not overloaded.

What goes wrong

Stone fails on colour match, cracks and dimensions. Slabs from different blocks differ in colour and veining so a kitchen or floor looks patchy, resin-filled cracks and fissures are hidden under the polish, and slabs are cut out of square or to the wrong thickness. Marble and limestone stain and etch where a harder granite was expected, and slabs crack in transit when A-frames are poorly braced.

Approve slabs from the actual block by photograph or visit, check thickness and squareness on each slab, look for filled fissures and cracks under raking light, test water absorption and flexural strength where the stone goes outdoors, and check that A-frames and crates are braced and ISPM 15 marked.

Packing and inspection

Heavy slabs need A-frames or wooden crates meeting ISPM 15 through heat treatment or fumigation, and weight limits per container. At inspection, check colour consistency, cracks, chips and dimensions.

Cambridge China Bridge sources marble and granite tiles, slabs and memorials, with stone selection, standards and crating settled before the order. See how our sourcing service works.