UK CBAM goods list: every commodity code in scope from 1 January 2027

UK CBAM starts on 1 January 2027. If you import goods in five sectors (iron and steel, aluminium, cement, fertiliser and hydrogen), you may owe a carbon charge on them once their value passes £50,000 in a rolling 12 months. We explained the scheme, the threshold and the timetable in UK CBAM starts on 1 January 2027. This guide is the reference that goes with it: the list of commodity codes HMRC says are in scope.

How HMRC defines UK CBAM scope

HMRC publishes one list per sector in its guidance check which goods are in scope of CBAM. The lists were last updated on 16 July 2026. Each entry is a chapter, heading or subheading, and HMRC's rule is simple: if a heading or subheading is listed, every code beneath it is in scope too, unless it appears in the list of exceptions.

That makes the commodity code the trigger. You don't decide whether a product is a "steel product" by looking at it. You decide by classifying it, and then checking whether its code falls under one of the entries below.

UK CBAM goods list: iron and steel

The iron and steel list is the widest. It covers all of chapter 72 and a set of headings in chapter 73 that include finished articles.

The greenhouse gas covered for iron and steel is carbon dioxide.

UK CBAM goods list: aluminium

The gases covered for aluminium are carbon dioxide and perfluorocarbons.

UK CBAM goods list: cement, fertiliser and hydrogen

Cement and hydrogen cover carbon dioxide. Nitric acid, potassium nitrate and the fertilisers in 3102 and 3105 also cover nitrous oxide.

The exceptions

These codes sit inside a listed chapter or heading but HMRC has taken them out of scope.

The products that catch importers out

Most businesses that think about CBAM picture steel coil or aluminium ingots. The list reaches further, into goods that retailers, food producers and manufacturers buy every week.

Duty rates are third-country rates from the UK Trade Tariff on 23 October 2026. Household aluminium foil from China also carries anti-dumping duty of up to 35.6%.

The household rows are the ones to watch. A steel article goes to 7323 if it is a table, kitchen or household article, and to 7326 if it isn't. The same split exists for aluminium between 7615 and 7616, and an aluminium foil container under 7612 is in scope while a household foil article under 7615 is not. Screws and bolts are in; nails are out. These lines decide whether goods are CBAM goods, so a supplier's description of "metal homeware" isn't enough to settle it.

Packaging needs the same care. Cans imported already filled with food or drink are normally classified with their contents, so it is empty packaging that brings CBAM in.

A worked example: the steel card holder

One of the products in our TTVerified demonstration catalogue is a slim credit card holder. The supplier's description was "CARD HOLDER RFID SLIM", and the code on file was 4202 31 00 90, under the heading for cases and wallets, which is where most card holders belong.

TTVerified asked one question the supplier description didn't answer: what material makes up the outer surface? Card holders are classified by their outer surface, and this one was steel. That moves it out of 4202 and into 7326 90 98 90, other articles of iron or steel.

The duty is 2% either way, so the old code was costing the importer nothing at the border. The difference is CBAM. 7326 is on HMRC's list and 4202 isn't, so the correct code turns the card holder into a CBAM good, with records to keep from 1 January 2027 and value that counts towards the £50,000 threshold. Under the old code, none of that would have been visible until HMRC asked.

In our audits of new customers, around 2 in 5 tariff codes turn out to be wrong. A wrong code doesn't always change the duty, which is why it can sit unnoticed for years. Under CBAM, a wrong code with the same duty rate can still leave a tax liability unreported.

What CBAM will cost per product

HMRC published the default values on 16 October 2026: one emissions figure for each 8-digit code, whatever the country of origin, in tonnes of CO2 equivalent per tonne of goods. You can use them instead of actual emissions data from your supplier, but if you file a return on default values you can't amend it later with actual data.

The charge is the embodied emissions multiplied by the CBAM rate for the sector, less relief for any carbon price already paid abroad. HMRC will publish the rates for January to March 2027 before the end of this year. To show how the sums work, it has published illustrative rates based on the UK ETS price in the third quarter of 2026.

Some default values for everyday goods:

At the illustrative rate, 10 tonnes of steel bolts would carry 55.84 tonnes of embodied emissions and a CBAM charge of about £541. These figures are HMRC's illustrations and don't create a liability. The real rate for each quarter will be published at the start of it.

How to check your own codes against the list

1. Pull every commodity code you import into chapters 25, 28, 31, 72, 73 and 76. Those are the only chapters on the list.
2. For each code, find the longest entry on HMRC's list that it starts with. A code starting 7318 is in scope; a code starting 7323 is not.
3. Check it against the exceptions. A code starting 7202 21 is out, even though chapter 72 is in.
4. Question the codes that sit near a boundary: 7323 against 7326, 7615 against 7616, 4202 against 7326, and filled against empty cans.
5. For anything in scope, start recording the 8-digit code, description, the date the goods passed the tax point, customs value and net weight from 1 January 2027, and ask suppliers for emissions data. HMRC can charge a £500 penalty for failing to keep CBAM records.
6. Work out when you cross £50,000. HMRC applies two tests: whether you expect to import £50,000 of CBAM goods in the next 30 days, and, on the first day of each month, whether you imported £50,000 in the previous 12 months. Registration opens on 1 January 2028, and if you became liable during 2027 you must register by 31 January 2028.

Step 2 only works if the code is right in the first place. The list tells you which codes are in scope. It can't tell you whether your product belongs under the code you have been using.

Where TariffTel fits

Every code classified in TTVerified is checked against CBAM and flagged when it is in scope, alongside anti-dumping duty and the duty and preferential rates. Codes come from expert-built question pathways, like the outer-surface question that caught the card holder, and a customs specialist verifies each one, so you can show HMRC why a product is or isn't a CBAM good.

If you have a range of metal products, packaging or fixings to check before January, start with the lines you are least sure of. The TTVerified 14-day free trial includes 10 classifications with no card needed, or talk to our classification team about reviewing a full range. For a single product, TTExplore suggests 10-digit codes with its reasoning from £2 a code.