Importing from Japan in 2026: UK Duty Rates, CEPA and CPTPP

Does the UK have a trade deal with Japan?

Yes — two of them, and you can choose between them.

The UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) entered into force on 1 January 2021. It was the UK's first major bespoke trade deal after leaving the EU, and it broadly replicates the EU-Japan agreement while going further in a few areas such as digital trade and data.

Since December 2024, the UK has also been a member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), of which Japan is a founding member. That means Japanese goods can be entered under either agreement — whichever gives the better outcome for that consignment.

What duty rates apply to Japanese goods?

These are indicative. The rate for your specific commodity code may differ, and a handful of agricultural lines sit outside the general liberalisation — always confirm against the HMRC Trade Tariff or run the product through the LandedHQ calculator before you commit to a price.

Japanese cars reached 0% in January 2026

This is the change most likely to affect your numbers this year. Passenger car tariffs under CEPA were never zero on day one — they followed a staged phase-out inherited from the EU-Japan schedule, stepping down from the 10% standard rate over several years. That schedule reached 0% in January 2026.

If you are working from a landed cost model built before this year, or from a quote a freight forwarder prepared in 2024, there is a good chance it still has 10% duty baked into it on vehicles. The same applies to some vehicle parts lines that were on their own staging timetable.

CEPA or CPTPP — which should you claim?

For most importers buying goods wholly made in Japan, CEPA is the simpler and more generous route. CPTPP becomes worth considering when your product's supply chain reaches beyond Japan.

• Use CEPA when the goods are made in Japan from Japanese or UK materials. The bilateral cumulation with UK content is useful if you send components out to Japan for assembly.
• Consider CPTPP when the goods contain materials from other member countries — Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Peru, New Zealand or Brunei. Under CPTPP those materials count as originating, which can push a borderline product over the origin threshold.

A Japanese-assembled product with a significant share of Vietnamese or Malaysian components is the classic case where CEPA fails and CPTPP succeeds. Our CPTPP guide covers the cumulation rules in more detail.

How to claim CEPA preference

CEPA uses self-certification. There is no EUR.1 movement certificate and no application to a chamber of commerce. There are two ways to claim:

Statement on origin

Your Japanese supplier makes out a statement on the commercial invoice, a delivery note or any other document that identifies the goods clearly enough to trace them. The wording is prescribed by the agreement and declares that the products are of Japanese preferential origin. A statement can cover a single shipment or multiple shipments of identical products over a period of up to 12 months.

Importer's knowledge

You claim on the basis of evidence you hold yourself about how the goods were produced. This route puts the entire evidential burden on you rather than the exporter, and it means holding production records, bills of materials and supplier declarations that satisfy HMRC on request. It is genuinely useful for related-party transactions where you have visibility of the factory, and a poor idea where you are buying through a trading house that will not disclose its sources.

Rules of origin under CEPA

A product qualifies as Japanese if it is wholly obtained in Japan, produced exclusively from originating materials, or has undergone sufficient processing to meet the product-specific rule for its commodity code. In practice that last category is what matters, and the rule takes one of three forms:

• Change of tariff classification — the finished good sits under a different heading than the imported materials that went into it
• Value added — non-originating materials stay below a stated percentage of the ex-works price
• Specific process — a particular manufacturing operation must happen in Japan, common in textiles and chemicals

There is a general tolerance allowing a small proportion of non-originating material even where the change of classification rule is not met — typically 10% of the ex-works price, with different treatment for textiles. Tolerance does not apply to every rule, so check the annex for your code rather than assuming.

Import VAT on Japanese goods

This is where the money actually goes for most Japan importers. Customs duty may be 0%, but import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty plus freight and insurance to the UK border. On a £40,000 consignment of electronics that is around £8,000 of VAT against £0 of duty.

If you are VAT-registered, use postponed VAT accounting. It lets you account for import VAT on your return rather than paying it at the border and reclaiming later, which removes the cash flow hit entirely. It is not automatic — your customs declaration has to be completed correctly to use it. Our guide on import VAT versus import duty explains the mechanics.

Food, drink and product controls

• Food and agricultural products — the UK removed the last of its post-Fukushima restrictions on Japanese food imports in June 2022, so radiological certification is no longer required. Standard import controls, labelling rules and health certification still apply according to product type.
• Sake and spirits — customs duty goes to 0% under CEPA, but UK excise duty applies separately and is charged by alcoholic strength. Excise is frequently larger than any duty saving and is easy to leave out of a landed cost model.
• Seafood — requires catch certificates and, for most species, health certification and entry through an appropriate border control post.
• Electronics and electricals — need UKCA or, where still accepted, CE marking, plus a UK-based responsible person. Japanese domestic market goods are often built to 100V and Japanese plug standards and may not be compliant as supplied.

Practical tips for importing from Japan

• Ask for the statement on origin up front — build it into your purchase order terms rather than chasing it after the goods have shipped. Large Japanese exporters are well practised at this; smaller ones sometimes are not.
• Verify the commodity code yourself — your supplier's code comes from Japan's export classification, which agrees with the UK code only to six digits. The last four digits are the UK's own and are your responsibility.
• Check whether your product was on a staging schedule — several categories phased down over time rather than going to zero in 2021. If your reference data is a year or two old, it may be wrong in your favour or against it.
• Budget for air freight realistically — a lot of Japan-UK trade moves by air because of value density, and air freight forms part of the customs value. It raises both your duty and your VAT.
• Invoicing currency — Japan-UK trade is commonly invoiced in JPY or USD. HMRC applies its own monthly exchange rate to convert, not the rate your bank gave you, so your declared value will not match your management accounts exactly.

Frequently asked questions

How much is import duty from Japan to the UK?

For most goods, 0%. CEPA eliminates customs duty on the large majority of industrial products including machinery, electronics, optical instruments and car parts, and passenger cars reached 0% in January 2026. You still pay import VAT at 20% on the customs value plus duty and freight, so a 0% duty rate does not mean a shipment arrives free of charges.

Do I need a certificate of origin for goods from Japan?

No. CEPA uses self-certification — your supplier makes out a statement on origin on the invoice, or you claim under importer's knowledge using evidence you hold yourself. There is no government-issued certificate to obtain, which is a meaningful practical advantage over agreements that require an EUR.1.

Can I use CPTPP instead of CEPA for Japanese goods?

Yes. Japan is a CPTPP member and the UK joined in December 2024, so you may enter Japanese goods under either agreement. You choose one route per consignment and cannot combine them. CEPA is usually better for Japan-only supply chains; CPTPP helps when your product contains materials from other member countries, because those materials count towards origin.