Sourcing potassium carbonate from China

Potassium carbonate: 4% duty

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 6 November 2026, potassium carbonates under 2836 40 00 00 carried 4% duty for goods from China. No anti-dumping or countervailing duty and no tariff suspension are recorded for this line. Heading 2836 covers carbonates and peroxocarbonates, including commercial ammonium carbonate containing ammonium carbamate.

The tariff attaches import and export waste controls. Environment Agency guidance for England says waste shipment controls apply only when the material is waste. For material offered from China as waste or recovered stock, ask your customs broker to confirm the attached control and applicable requirements before shipment.

The table shows buying specifications under the same tariff line, rather than separate commodity codes. Confirm the composition and commodity code before ordering. See soda ash and carbonates for the wider heading.

Specify grade, assay and physical form

State whether the order is for technical or food use, powder or granules. Agree assay, moisture, chloride, iron and heavy-metal limits with the supplier, together with test methods and a batch certificate of analysis. Specify lined bags, closure, batch marking and the physical form your process accepts.

For food-grade potassium carbonate, confirm the applicable food-additive purity criteria with the FSA. A food-grade description on a quotation does not demonstrate batch conformity. Confirm your UK REACH position with the relevant authority or your customs broker before ordering.

For supply in Great Britain, the supply chain is responsible for correct chemical labelling and packaging before placing goods on the market. Request the safety data sheet and check the proposed bag artwork against the supplied product.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: Illustrative order: 20 tonnes of potassium carbonate under 2836 40 00 00, invoiced at £22,000 free on board, with £2,500 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £24,500. Duty at 4% is £980. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £25,480, so it is £5,096. Import taxes total £6,076; a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim the VAT, so the lasting cost is the £980 of duty. The import duty and VAT guide explains each step.

Inspection checklist

Identity: match the product name, intended grade and batch markings to the order and certificate.

Analysis: arrange independent sampling and compare assay, moisture and agreed impurities with the contractual limits.

Condition: check for damp bags, damaged liners, contamination and lumps that prevent the agreed handling or dosing.

Packing: check closures, bag weights and label legibility, and retain photographs and samples linked to the batch.

What goes wrong

A certificate can describe a different batch, omit moisture or report assay on a basis different from the purchase specification. Material can meet an assay target while failing the agreed impurity limits. Make the reporting basis and acceptance limits explicit before production.

Technical grade supplied against a food-grade order, damaged liners and unsuitable particle size can leave a delivery unusable for the intended process. Keep suspect batches separate while comparing arrival samples with the order and certificate. Use quality inspection to agree the checks before loading.

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.