Stainless steel strip from China

Zero duty and no steel quota

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 26 September 2026, flat-rolled stainless steel of a width of less than 600 mm in heading 7220, hot-rolled or cold-rolled, perforated or otherwise worked, carried 0% duty on goods from China, with no anti-dumping measure. Unlike many steel products, these lines showed no tariff quota and none of the 50% out-of-quota duty that the UK steel measure applies from 1 July 2026, although the lines are still split by consignment country and should be rechecked before each order.

Stainless sheet and coil 600 mm or wider is in heading 7219, and stainless wire and bar in 7222 and 7223. Cold-rolled strip is split by thickness and by nickel content at 2.5%, so a 304 and a 201 strip of the same size take different codes. Confirm the commodity code from the mill certificate.

Grades, tolerances and end uses

Stainless strip for general purposes is specified by grade and surface finish to BS EN 10088-2, such as 1.4301 (304) or 1.4404 (316L) in a 2B, 2R bright-annealed or 2H temper-rolled finish, with thickness, width and flatness tolerances to BS EN 10258 for cold-rolled narrow strip and BS EN 10151 where the strip is for springs. Ask for an inspection certificate type 3.1 to EN 10204 with the heat number, chemistry and mechanical properties.

Strip used for food equipment, cutlery or kitchenware must not transfer metals into food, so choose an austenitic grade suited to the food and ask the finished-goods maker for migration testing. Strip for springs, clips and blades is bought on hardness and temper, and strip for battery or electronics parts on surface cleanliness and flatness.

Worked duty example

Suppose, purely for illustration, you import 20 tonnes of cold-rolled 304 stainless strip under 7220 20 41 90. At £48,000 free on board and £1,800 to ship and insure, the customs value is £49,800. With 0% duty on stainless strip, the only charge is import VAT: 20% of £49,800, or £9,960. VAT-registered businesses usually recover that in their next return. A 201 grade with less than 2.5% nickel would be entered under 7220 20 49 90 instead, at the same rate. The method is set out in how UK import duty and VAT work.

What goes wrong

Stainless strip fails on grade, gauge and surface. A 201 or low-nickel grade is shipped against a 304 order and rusts in use; thickness runs at the bottom of the tolerance so parts are weak; hardness drifts across the coil so forming cracks; camber and edge burrs from poor slitting cause feeding problems; and scratches, roll marks and fingerprints spoil bright finishes.

Check the grade on every coil with a handheld XRF analyser for nickel, chromium, molybdenum and manganese, measure thickness across the width and along the coil with a micrometer against BS EN 10258, test hardness to ISO 6507-1 and tensile properties to ISO 6892-1 on samples, measure camber and burr height, and inspect the surface under good light with the interleaving paper and coil packing intact.

Cambridge China Bridge sources cold-rolled and hot-rolled stainless strip, slit coils and cut lengths for fabricators and parts makers, and can qualify a Chinese mill or service centre alongside a current supplier. See our second-supplier service.