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New US Tariffs: What UK Exporters Need to Know
US Trade Policy · Regulatory Update New US Tariffs Just Landed — Here’s Why It’s Not the Emergency the Headlines Make It Sound Like If
24 July 2026
Import Duty · Customs Compliance
If your business imports goods into the UK, there's a reasonable chance you're paying more duty than you legally need to. Not because of fraud or error that anyone flagged — but because duty overpayment is structurally quiet. No invoice arrives marked "unnecessary charge." No HMRC letter arrives saying you could have claimed relief. The liability is met with every customs entry (whether immediately or via duty deferment) and nobody questions it.
The three most common causes are misclassification, unused duty relief or special procedures, and failure to claim preference under a UK trade agreement. Each one is distinct. Each one is fixable. And together, they represent a significant and largely unexamined cost for many UK importers.
Every good imported into the UK must be assigned a commodity code from the UK Global Tariff. That code determines the duty rate, any VAT treatment, whether a licence is required, and whether the goods are eligible for trade agreement preference. Get the code wrong and everything that follows could also be wrong.
Misclassification happens for several reasons. Codes are sometimes inherited from suppliers' documentation without independent verification. They're carried forward from legacy systems that predate the UK Global Tariff. They're assigned by someone working from memory or approximation rather than the Classification Methodology. And in some cases, the goods themselves have changed (e.g. formulation, materials, function) but the code hasn't been reviewed.
The consequences go in both directions. Assigning a code that carries a lower duty rate than the goods correctly attract exposes the business to HMRC audit, demand for underpaid duty, and potential penalties. But the reverse is equally common and far less visible — goods sitting under a higher-rated code than they should, with the importer simply overpaying on every entry without realising it.
A commodity code review is often the most direct route to identifying where duty liability is higher than it should be. It also acts as the foundation for any preference claim under a trade agreement, which requires the correct tariff classification to work.
Exporter Services runs practical training on commodity code classification, covering the Classification Methodology, the UK Global Tariff structure, and how to apply the General Rules of Interpretation correctly. View our commodity code classification training →
HMRC operates a range of customs special procedures that allow businesses to suspend, reduce, or eliminate duty liability on certain imports. These are not obscure loopholes — they are legislated mechanisms within the Customs (Special Procedures and Outward Processing) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018, available to businesses that meet the eligibility conditions and hold the appropriate authorisation.
The most commonly underused include:
Allows businesses to import goods, process or manufacture them, and re-export the finished product without paying import duty on the incoming materials. Where goods are subsequently released to free circulation, duty is calculated on what remains. Businesses that import materials for processing or manufacture and then export a significant proportion of output are frequently eligible and unaware.
Duty is suspended while goods are stored in an authorised customs warehouse and only becomes payable when goods are released to free circulation. For importers holding stock ahead of confirmed orders, this can represent a meaningful cash flow benefit.
Goods brought in temporarily for a defined purpose (exhibitions, testing, professional equipment) can be imported with full or partial duty relief, provided they are re-exported within the authorised period.
Reduced or zero duty rates are available on certain goods used for specific prescribed purposes. The relief is goods- and use-specific, and eligibility must be established against the UK Global Tariff schedule.
Each procedure has conditions, authorisation requirements, and record-keeping obligations. None of them are appropriate for every business. But for businesses importing at volume and paying full third-country duty on every entry without having considered whether a procedure applies, the question is worth asking.
Exporter Services runs training on customs special procedures, covering inward and outward processing, customs warehousing, temporary admission, and end-use relief — including the authorisation process and practical record-keeping requirements. View our special procedures training →
The UK has trade agreements in force with over 70 countries, each offering preferential (reduced or zero) duty rates on qualifying goods. Preference is not applied automatically. It must be claimed on the customs declaration, and the goods must meet the rules of origin set out in the relevant agreement.
That last point is where many businesses fall short. Rules of origin are not simply about where goods were shipped from — they define whether the goods are sufficiently originating in the partner country to qualify for the preferential rate. The specific rule varies by commodity code and by agreement. Some goods require wholly obtained status. Others permit a degree of non-originating content, subject to a value, weight, or processing threshold.
In practice, businesses are missing preference claims in two ways. First, they don't claim at all — either because they're unaware a relevant agreement exists, or because they don't have a process for obtaining proof of origin from suppliers. Second, they claim without properly establishing origin eligibility, which creates a different but equally serious compliance risk.
The UK-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CETA), which enters into force on 15 July 2026, is a current example. UK importers of Indian-origin goods will soon have access to preferential rates across a wide range of tariff headings — but only where origin can be established, proof of origin is held, and the claim is correctly made on the import declaration. For businesses already importing from India and paying MFN rates, this represents an immediate and concrete area to review.
⚠️ Preferential duty rates under the UK-India CETA should be verified against the agreement schedule and current UK Global Tariff before any claim is made. Rules of origin requirements vary by commodity code.
Exporter Services runs training on trade agreements and rules of origin, covering how preference works, how to read and apply rules of origin, and how to work with suppliers to obtain the documentation you need. View our trade agreements and rules of origin training →
Each of these three areas (classification, special procedures, and preference) represents a distinct source of overpayment. But they interact. A wrong commodity code undermines a preference claim. An unclaimed special procedure means full duty is paid where suspension was available. Errors compound over time and across entries.
The difficulty is that without a structured review, businesses rarely know where they stand. Customs declarations are processed, duty is paid, and the entries close. Unless someone is actively looking for the gap, it stays invisible.
Post-clearance amendment (C285) allows duty overpayments to be reclaimed, subject to a three-year time limit and HMRC acceptance that the original entry was made in error. But recovery is not guaranteed, and the administrative cost of retrospective claims makes prevention the more efficient approach.
If you haven't reviewed your import duty position recently (or ever) a customs compliance review is the most effective starting point. This examines your commodity codes, your current relief and procedure usage, and your eligibility for trade agreement preference across your key import lines.
For businesses that want to build this capability in-house, Exporter Services runs practical training on trade agreements and rules of origin, covering how preference works, how to read and apply rules of origin, and how to work with suppliers to obtain the documentation you need.
A compliance health check is the fastest way to find out. Our consultancy team reviews your commodity codes, procedure usage, and trade agreement eligibility — and identifies where you're paying more than you should. For businesses that want to build this capability in-house, our trade agreements and rules of origin training covers the practical detail your team needs.
US Trade Policy · Regulatory Update New US Tariffs Just Landed — Here’s Why It’s Not the Emergency the Headlines Make It Sound Like If
Classifying sets for customs is one of the areas where classification disputes come up repeatedly, because the General Interpretative Rules (GIR) require you to work
Whether you need immediate help with a trade issue, want to strengthen your internal processes or are looking for the right training or service, we can point you in the right direction.
