Sourcing steel storage lockers from China

Zero duty on complete lockers, 2% on metal parts

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 29 October 2026, heading 9403 covers other furniture and its parts. The relevant complete metal furniture lines carry 0% duty for goods from China; other metal furniture parts carry 2%. The supplied records show no anti-dumping or countervailing duty and no suspensions for these lines.

The other metal furniture line also carries a torture and repression import prohibition. Official guidance prohibits imports of the listed torture goods. Ask your customs broker to confirm whether the tariff footnotes affect your specific product. The records also list cultural-goods export licensing and, for other metal furniture, torture-goods export restrictions; ask your broker to confirm their relevance if re-exporting.

Office use, cabinet construction, height and whether goods arrive as complete lockers or separate parts affect the classification enquiry. Send drawings, photographs and a packing list to your broker and confirm the commodity code. See our furniture guide for the wider heading.

Specify the cabinet, doors and locking system

Specify assembled or flat-packed construction, external dimensions, usable compartment space, steel thickness before coating, shelf arrangement, ventilation, hinges and door stops. Agree the lock type, key allocation, replacement-lock availability and whether a master key is wanted. State whether lockers will stand alone, join into banks or attach to a wall.

Agree coating colour and finish, edge treatment, weld quality, shelf loading and stability checks using the intended installation. For lockers intended or reasonably likely to be used by consumers in Great Britain, general product safety rules apply and products must be safe. Ask for model-specific safety assessment and testing covering tipping, sharp edges and door pinch points.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: 300 steel storage lockers; illustrative order, FOB value and freight under 9403 20 80 80, invoiced at £21,000 free on board, with £4,000 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £25,000. Duty at 0% is £0. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £25,000, so it is £5,000. With no duty, the only import tax is the VAT, which a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim. The import duty and VAT guide explains each step.

Inspection checklist

Construction: measure panels and compartments against the approved drawing; check welds, folded edges, shelf supports and the cabinet for twist.

Doors and locks: operate every door and lock; check alignment, hinge security, key allocation and access to adjacent compartments.

Finish: check coating coverage around folds and welds, exposed steel, scratches, rust and colour consistency against the approved sample.

Arrival and assembly: inspect corners and doors for transport damage; assemble a sample using the supplied instructions and check fixings, stability and joining hardware.

What goes wrong

Thin panels flex, cabinets arrive twisted and doors rub against their frames. Poorly finished folds leave sharp edges; damaged coating exposes steel to rust. Locks may work on the sample but arrive with mixed keys or loose mounting nuts. Record these checks in the purchase specification.

Flat-packed lockers can arrive with missing fixings or instructions that do not match the panels. Assembled cabinets need protection against crushed corners and door damage. Approve the packing method alongside the product sample and use quality inspection to check production before dispatch.

Cambridge China Bridge sources these products for UK businesses, checking the factory and the documents before shipment. See factory verification. For own-brand ranges, see sourcing for brands.