Sourcing titanium fasteners from China

Duty on finished titanium fasteners

Heading 8108 covers titanium and its articles, including waste and scrap. This guide concerns finished fasteners. Ordinary bolts, screws, nuts and washers are candidates for 8108 90 90 99; Hi-lok type self-locking bolts and nuts and titanium-alloy spectacle-frame bolts have separate descriptions. The table separates ordinary bolts and nuts under their shared code. See the wider titanium guide for raw material and other forms.

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 1 October 2026, the listed fastener lines carried 6% duty for goods from China, with no anti-dumping or countervailing duty recorded. The spectacle-frame bolt line has a conditional 0.00 % autonomous suspension, excluding mixtures, preparations or products made up of different components containing these products. No suspension is recorded for the other fastener lines. Import VAT is normally 20%.

The tariff attaches import and export waste controls to these lines, plus a supplementary-unit import measure to the spectacle-frame line. Confirm the applicable requirements with your customs broker, particularly for rejected parts or scrap from China. For waste imports into England under notification controls, the exporter must seek consent from the dispatch country's competent authority. Confirm the commodity code against the finished goods before ordering.

Alloy, threads and the mating joint

Specify the titanium grade, finished-part drawing, thread system, pitch, tolerance, handedness, head and drive form, shank length and bearing face. State whether threads are rolled or cut, the required mechanical properties, surface treatment and any lubricant. Agree how the fastener will be tested with its actual mating material; a raw-bar certificate alone does not demonstrate the finished fastener's performance.

Request material certificates showing heat number, chemistry and mechanical properties, linked to the finished production batch. For self-locking parts, agree the locking-performance test and acceptance criteria. If supplied as consumer goods in Great Britain, fasteners must be safe in normal or reasonably foreseeable use. Agree the intended application and supporting checks before accepting a supplier's proposed substitute.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: 200 titanium bolts for a small engineering business; illustrative order, FOB value and freight under 8108 90 90 99, invoiced at £3,600 free on board, with £800 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £4,400. Duty at 6% is £264. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £4,664, so it is £932.80. Import taxes total £1,196.80; a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim the VAT, so the lasting cost is the £264 of duty. The import duty and VAT guide explains each step.

Inspection checklist

Material and batch: match package labels and production records to the material certificate; independently check sampled chemistry and the mechanical properties agreed for the finished part.

Threads and dimensions: use the agreed thread gauges and measure shank, head, bearing face and washer dimensions against the drawing; check fit with representative mating parts.

Surface and function: inspect thread roots, head transitions and drive recesses for cracks, burrs and damage; test locking behaviour and assembly using the agreed lubricant and mating material.

Packing and receipt: keep grades and sizes separately identified, check quantities and batch labels on arrival, and isolate damaged or mismatched stock. Set the scope through quality inspection.

What goes wrong

A correct-looking fastener can have the wrong alloy, pitch or thread tolerance. A copied material certificate can hide a batch substitution, while machining burrs or damaged drive recesses can prevent proper assembly. Titanium threads can seize during assembly, so agree lubrication and assembly trials rather than accepting colour or appearance as proof of suitability.

Keep the approved drawing, sample, certificate requirements and test criteria with the purchase order. Ask the factory to identify each batch and obtain approval before changing material, thread-making method or finish. Hold mismatched stock apart until its identity and intended use have been resolved.

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.