Sourcing printed circuit boards from China

Zero duty

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 25 September 2026, printed circuits consisting only of conductor elements and contacts, multilayer or other, and printed circuits with other passive elements carried 0% duty on goods from China, with no anti-dumping measure.

A board with components mounted is an assembled board and classified by what it is part of, so confirm the commodity code for assemblies; the electronics guide covers finished products.

The fabrication package

Send Gerber or ODB++ files with a fabrication drawing that states the laminate and its glass transition and flammability rating, layer count and stack-up, board thickness, copper weight, minimum track and gap, surface finish, solder mask and silkscreen colour, and the acceptability class of the finished board. Ambiguity in the drawing becomes the factory's choice. For metal-core designs, see our guide to sourcing metal-core PCBs. For ceramic designs, see our ceramic circuit board sourcing guide.

Ask for electrical testing of every board, for impedance control where the design needs it, and for a certificate of conformance and test record with each batch.

Materials and restricted substances

Boards that go into electrical products sold in the UK must allow the finished product to meet the restricted substances rules, so a lead-free surface finish and laminate declarations are usually part of the specification. Ask the factory for material declarations for the laminate, mask and finish.

Check a sample from each batch for plating thickness, solderability, bow and twist and cross-section quality where the application demands it.

Worked duty example

Take a hypothetical order of 5,000 four-layer bare boards, entered under 8534 00 11 00: £20,000 free on board plus £1,500 of freight and insurance gives a customs value of £21,500. Multilayer printed circuits carry no duty, so import VAT of 20% on £21,500, £4,300, is the only tax. A VAT-registered importer normally reclaims it, so the border adds no lasting cost. Freight here assumes air, which is common for boards needed on a production schedule. Step by step: UK import duty and VAT.

Inspection checklist

Laminate and build: the laminate checked against the IPC-4101 specification sheet and flammability rating on the drawing, thermal stress tested on coupons by the solder float method of IPC-TM-650 2.6.8 with the microsection examined for plating cracks and delamination, and board thickness and copper weight measured.

Solderability and cleanliness: surface finish solderability tested to J-STD-003 on samples from each lot, ionic contamination checked where the assembly is sensitive, and surface finish thickness measured by XRF for ENIG and similar finishes, with material declarations for the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2012.

Lot release: the flying probe or fixture electrical test log checked for every board, bow and twist measured on a flat surface, hole sizes and solder mask registration checked under magnification, and boards vacuum-packed with desiccant and a humidity card and labelled with lot and date code.

What goes wrong

Bare boards fail on laminate, plating and registration. Laminate with a lower glass transition temperature than specified delaminates or blisters in lead-free reflow, thin or void plating in vias opens up after thermal cycling, and controlled-impedance traces miss their target. Solder mask is misregistered over pads, boards bow and twist beyond what assembly can place, and electrical testing is skipped so opens and shorts reach the assembly line.

State the IPC-6012 performance class and IPC-A-600 acceptability in the order, ask for the electrical test report and a microsection report from test coupons for each lot, ask for impedance coupon results where relevant, measure bow and twist, check solder mask registration and surface finish under magnification, and run a solderability test on samples before assembly.

Protecting the design

Your Gerber files are your product. Use a non-disclosure agreement suited to China, split sensitive work where it matters, and keep your own copy of every revision; see protecting your IP.

Cambridge China Bridge sources bare and assembled PCBs for UK product companies, with the fabrication package, testing and IP arrangements agreed before production. See how our sourcing service works.

For insulated cable and custom wire harnesses, see Electrical cable and wire harnesses from China.