Sourcing Sodium Persulphate from China

Sodium persulphate duty: 4%

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 6 November 2026, heading 2833 covers sulphates, alums and peroxosulphates. Sodium persulphate falls within the persulphates line, 2833 40 00 00, carrying 4% duty for goods from China. The supplied record lists no anti-dumping or countervailing measure and no suspension for this line.

The tariff attaches import and export waste controls. If a proposed shipment from China contains waste material, confirm the applicable import requirement with your customs broker before shipment. For waste subject to notification controls, shipment requires consent from the competent authorities of destination, dispatch and transit. Confirm the controls separately before returning rejected material overseas.

Confirm the commodity code using the chemical identity and composition rather than the supplier's product name alone. Only the persulphates line in the supplied record is relevant here. See the ammonium persulphate guide for the wider heading context.

Specify sodium persulphate and its assay

Name sodium persulphate explicitly in the purchase specification. Agree assay, the reporting basis and test method, moisture, insoluble matter, iron and particle size against your intended process. Ask for a batch certificate of analysis and a sample for independent testing before accepting the production lot.

Persulphates are oxidisers. Read the safety data sheet for the transport classification before booking freight, and agree packaging and handling with the carrier. For Great Britain, check UK REACH registration when importing one tonne or more annually of the substance. Hazardous chemicals supplied for workplace use require a safety data sheet; confirm the applicable chemical supply labelling requirements with HSE.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: Illustrative order: one tonne of sodium persulphate in 25 kg bags under 2833 40 00 00, invoiced at £4,800 free on board, with £1,500 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £6,300. Duty at 4% is £252. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £6,552, so it is £1,310.40. Import taxes total £1,562.40; a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim the VAT, so the lasting cost is the £252 of duty. The import duty and VAT guide explains each step.

Inspection checklist

Identity: match sodium persulphate on the order, bag labels, safety data sheet and batch certificate; investigate any document naming ammonium or potassium persulphate.

Assay: test a representative batch sample against the agreed method and reporting basis, including moisture and the impurities specified for your process.

Packing: check bag seals, liners, net weights, leakage and caking at arrival; photograph damaged packaging before moving the lot into stock.

Traceability: match bag batch markings to the analysis certificate, and compare hazard labels with the safety data sheet. Plan checks through the inspection guide.

What goes wrong

An order described only as persulphate leaves room for the wrong salt to be supplied. An assay certificate without a test method or reporting basis makes comparison difficult. Moisture, caking, torn liners and excessive insolubles can also leave a delivered lot unsuitable for the buyer's dosing or dissolution process.

Agree acceptance criteria before production and keep the batch on hold while identity, analysis or packaging discrepancies are investigated. A generic certificate for another lot does not demonstrate the quality of the delivered sodium persulphate.

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.