Sourcing stainless steel wire from China

0% duty

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 27 September 2026, wire of stainless steel, heading 7223, carried 0% on goods from China on every line: wire with 2.5% or more nickel (including a nickel-chromium heat-resistant grade) and wire with less than 2.5% nickel (including chromium-aluminium resistance wire). No line carried an anti-dumping measure or the steel safeguard measure.

Non-alloy steel wire is under heading 7217 (see our steel wire guide), stranded wire and ropes under 7312 (see our wire rope guide), and coated welding wire under 8311 (see our welding electrodes guide). For other alloy wire procurement, see our alloy steel and welding wire guide.

All the lines in the table above are in the iron and steel sector of the UK carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), which applies to imports from 1 January 2027. An importer who expects £50,000 or more of CBAM goods within 30 days, or has imported that much in the previous 12 months, must register, keep records for 6 years, and should ask suppliers for emissions data now. See our UK CBAM guide.

Standards and certificates

Stainless steel wire is commonly specified to BS EN 10088-3, and stainless spring wire to BS EN 10270-3. Ask for a mill certificate to EN 10204 type 3.1 for each heat, stating grade, composition and mechanical properties, and check grade with positive material identification, since 304 and 316 look identical.

Specifying stainless wire

Specify grade, diameter and tolerance, condition (annealed, spring temper, cold-heading), tensile strength, surface finish (bright, matt, coated), coil or spool weight and type, and for resistance wire the resistance per metre.

Worked duty example

An invented example rather than a quote: 10 tonnes of 304 stainless steel wire, commodity code 7223 00 19 00, bought for £32,000 free on board, with £1,100 of freight and insurance, so £33,100 is the value customs works from. No duty is due on stainless wire; import VAT at 20% of £33,100 is £6,620. If you are VAT-registered, that VAT is normally reclaimable. See calculating UK import duty and VAT for the method.

Inspection checklist

Grade: run positive material identification on samples from each heat, looking at molybdenum to tell 316 from 304.

Dimensions and strength: measure diameter and ovality, and test tensile strength and elongation on samples.

Surface and packing: check for scratches, drawing marks and rust spots, and that spools are wrapped and tagged with heat numbers.

What goes wrong

Stainless wire orders fail on grade, temper and tolerance. 304 is supplied as 316, tensile strength is wrong for springs, diameters drift, surfaces are scratched, and certificates do not match the heat on the tag.

Test grade by PMI, check tensile strength and diameter, and match certificates to heats. See our quality inspection guide.

Cambridge China Bridge sources stainless wire for UK spring makers, fastener makers and wireworkers, checking the mill's certificates first. See factory verification.

Related guides: Alloy steel and welding wire from China and Sourcing stainless steel wire rod from China.