Sourcing taps, mixers and radiator valves from China
Taps, mixing valves and radiator valves from China pay 2% UK duty, with no anti-dumping duty. In England and Wales every fitting on the mains must be of an appropriate quality and standard, shown by a British Standard or an approved specification, so test evidence is part of the order. Cambridge China Bridge sources taps and valves to your specification and checks them before shipment.
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One rate across the range
Kitchen and bathroom taps, mixers, shower valves and radiator valves all sit in the same tariff heading for taps, cocks and valves. Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 25 September 2026, every line below carried 2% duty on goods from China, and none carried an anti-dumping measure. That makes the duty the easy part of a tap range: the work is in the specification. For pressure relief valves, see our pressure relief valve sourcing guide. For butterfly valve purchases, see our guide to sourcing butterfly valves from China.
Replacement cartridges and other parts are classed as parts of valves, at the same 2%. Confirm the commodity code for each product before you quote a landed price. For UK-to-China sales, see our guide to exporting valves and taps.
| Goods | Commodity code | Duty | Anti-dumping duty on China |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mixing valves for sinks, washbasins, bidets, cisterns and baths | 8481 80 11 90 | 2% | None |
| Other taps and valves for sinks, washbasins, baths and similar fixtures | 8481 80 19 90 | 2% | None |
| Thermostatic central heating radiator valves | 8481 80 31 00 | 2% | None |
| Other central heating radiator valves | 8481 80 39 00 | 2% | None |
| Parts of taps and valves (cartridges, spindles) | 8481 90 00 90 | 2% | None |
Who the Water Fittings Regulations bind
In England and Wales the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999 say that no person shall install or use a fitting on water supplied by a water undertaker in breach of the regulations, and regulation 4 requires every water fitting to be of an appropriate quality and standard and suitable for the circumstances in which it is used. Since the end of 2020 that quality is shown by conformity with an appropriate British Standard or equivalent national specification, or with a specification approved by the regulator.
The duty falls on the installer and the user, which is exactly why merchants and plumbers ask the seller for evidence before they will stock or fit a tap. Ask the factory for test reports against the standard for the product, for example BS EN 817 for mechanical mixing valves or BS EN 200 for single and combination taps, and decide early whether your customers expect a third-party approval such as a WRAS listing, because that takes time and has to be planned into the launch.
UK plumbing is not the factory's default
Many UK homes still run hot water from a gravity-fed cylinder at low pressure, while a mixer designed for a mains-pressure market can barely run on it. Ask the factory to state the minimum working pressure for each model and to test flow at the pressure your customers actually have, and say on the box which systems the tap suits.
Connections are the other trap. UK fittings use British Standard Pipe threads and 15 mm or 22 mm copper pipe, and a tap supplied with tails for another market will not connect without adaptors. Put the thread, tail length and pipe size on the product specification, and check them on the first samples.
Worked duty example
An invented example rather than a quote: one mixed shipment of 2,000 basin mixer taps under 8481 80 11 90 at £24,000 free on board and 3,000 thermostatic radiator valves under 8481 80 31 00 at £9,000, with £1,500 of freight and insurance for the lot. The customs value is £34,500, and at 2% on both lines the duty is £690. Import VAT at 20% of £35,190 is £7,038, which a VAT-registered buyer normally reclaims.
Spread by value, the taps carry about £1,091 of the freight, so their share of the duty is about £502, roughly 25p a tap. At that level the duty barely moves the price; a cartridge substitution or a returned batch that fails a leak test costs far more. See calculating UK import duty and VAT for the method.
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What goes wrong in production
Most tap failures come from three places: the brass, the cartridge and the finish. Specify the brass alloy, and ask for a dezincification-resistant grade where your customers are in hard or aggressive water areas. Name the cartridge supplier or at least its size and type, because a cheaper cartridge is the easiest substitution for a factory to make. For chrome, brushed or black finishes, agree a salt spray test and a finish sample before production, so there is a standard to inspect against.
Every tap should be pressure and leak tested at the factory, and the inspection should confirm that the test was done rather than take it on trust. Cambridge China Bridge sources taps and valves to a written specification, arranges the test reports your customers ask for, and inspects the finish and the leak test before the goods ship. See how our sourcing service works.
Braided tap connectors and shower hoses are covered in our flexible metal hoses guide.
Frequently asked questions
What UK duty applies to taps and mixer taps from China?
Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 25 September 2026, mixing valves and other taps for sinks, basins and baths carried 2% duty from China, as did radiator valves and cartridges, with no anti-dumping duty.
Do taps imported from China need WRAS approval?
The Water Fittings Regulations require every fitting to be of an appropriate quality and standard, shown by a British Standard or an approved specification. WRAS is one way to show it, and many merchants ask for it, so plan it in before launch.
Will a Chinese mixer tap work on a UK low-pressure system?
Only if it was designed for it. Ask the factory for the minimum working pressure of each model and test flow at your customers' pressure before ordering.
What should a tap specification include?
The brass alloy, the cartridge size and type, the finish and its salt spray test, the thread and tail sizes for UK pipework, and a pressure and leak test on every unit.