Sourcing wood mouldings and parquet strips from China
Continuously shaped wood from China, including mouldings, skirting, frame mouldings and unassembled parquet strips, pays 0% UK duty, with no anti-dumping duty. The UK Timber Regulations require the business placing timber on the market to carry out due diligence on its legal harvest. Cambridge China Bridge sources them.
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Zero duty
Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 25 September 2026, coniferous and non-coniferous wood continuously shaped along its edges, ends or faces, including picture frame mouldings, bamboo, tropical wood and blocks, strips and friezes for parquet flooring not assembled, carried 0% duty on goods from China, with no anti-dumping measure.
Assembled flooring panels are in heading 4418, covered in the doors and flooring guide. Confirm the commodity code. For staircase kits, see our wooden staircase sourcing guide.
| Goods | Commodity code | Duty | Anti-dumping duty on China |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coniferous picture frame mouldings | 4409 10 11 00 | 0% | None |
| Coniferous shaped wood, other | 4409 10 18 00 | 0% | None |
| Of bamboo | 4409 21 00 00 | 0% | None |
| Of tropical wood | 4409 22 00 00 | 0% | None |
| Other non-coniferous picture frame mouldings | 4409 29 10 00 | 0% | None |
| Parquet blocks, strips and friezes, not assembled | 4409 29 91 00 | 0% | None |
| Other non-coniferous shaped wood | 4409 29 99 00 | 0% | None |
Timber legality
The UK Timber Regulations prohibit placing illegally harvested timber on the GB market and require the operator, usually the importer, to exercise due diligence: gather information on species and country of harvest, assess the risk and mitigate it. Ask for the species, harvest origin and chain of custody certificates; the plywood guide explains the due diligence steps. For marine panels, see our marine plywood sourcing guide.
Moisture and finish
Specify species, moisture content, profile drawings with tolerances, finish and grade. Wood shipped wet will move and crack in UK homes, so ask for kiln-drying records and check moisture on arrival.
Solid wood packaging must meet ISPM 15 treatment and marking requirements; exempt processed wood packaging, such as plywood, does not.
Worked duty example
Take a hypothetical order of 30,000 metres of hardwood picture frame moulding, entered under 4409 29 10 00: £24,000 free on board plus £3,000 of freight and insurance gives a customs value of £27,000. Wood mouldings carry no duty, so import VAT of 20% on £27,000, £5,400, is the only tax. A VAT-registered importer normally reclaims it, so the border adds no lasting cost. Step by step: UK import duty and VAT.
Inspection checklist
Moisture and species: moisture content measured with a meter used as in EN 13183-2 across bundles on arrival and against the kiln-drying records, species and country of harvest documented for due diligence under the Timber and Timber Products (Placing on the Market) Regulations 2013, and pallets and crates checked for ISPM 15 marks.
Profile and grade: mouldings checked against the profile drawing with templates or a profile gauge, lengths and straightness measured, and parquet strips graded for knots, colour and sapwood against the appearance classes of BS EN 13226 or BS EN 13227 as ordered.
Flooring compliance and packing: where parquet is sold as a construction product, the declaration of performance under BS EN 14342 checked for the exact product, mitres and tongue-and-groove joints trial-fitted on samples, and bundles wrapped against moisture before loading.
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What goes wrong
Mouldings and parquet fail on moisture, profile and grade. Wood dried to the wrong moisture content shrinks, cups or opens at joints once it is in a heated UK home, profiles drift from the drawing so lengths will not mitre or click together, and knots, splits and colour variation exceed the grade. Parquet strips with tongues and grooves cut loose squeak or gap after laying.
Measure moisture on arrival across bundles, check profiles against the drawing with templates, sort samples against the agreed grade for knots and colour, test fit mitres or lay a small area of parquet, and check that each bundle carries the species and lot needed for the timber due diligence file.
Inspection
At inspection, check profiles against drawings, lengths, knots and colour, and wrap bundles against moisture.
Cambridge China Bridge sources wood mouldings, skirting and parquet strips, with timber legality, moisture and profiles settled before the order. See how our sourcing service works. For fibreboard materials, see our MDF and fibreboard sourcing guide. For other wood-based panels, see our particleboard and OSB sourcing guide.
Frequently asked questions
What is the UK import duty on wood mouldings from China?
Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 25 September 2026, wood mouldings, skirting and unassembled parquet strips of heading 4409 carried 0% duty from China.
Do the UK Timber Regulations apply to mouldings?
Yes. The operator placing timber on the GB market must carry out due diligence on its legal harvest.
Where is assembled parquet flooring classified?
In heading 4418, not 4409.
Why does moisture content matter?
Wood shipped wet moves and cracks after installation, so ask for kiln-drying records.