Are steel nails, barbed wire and wire mesh covered by the United Kingdom (UK) Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)?
Not by name. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) lists chapter 72 as a whole and only headings 7301 to 7311, 7318 and 7326 in chapter 73. Barbed wire (7313), wire cloth, netting and fencing (7314) and nails (7317) are not named. Steel wire itself, under chapter 72, is.
What is named, in plain words
HMRC's iron and steel list is built like a street map. Chapter 72 is one big block: all of it is in, apart from named exceptions. Chapter 73 is a row of separate houses, and only some have their door open: 7301 to 7311, 7318 and 7326.
This is the UK CBAM list, not the European Union scheme, so do not carry codes across.
Wire products not named
- 7313: barbed wire and twisted fencing wire.
- 7314: cloth, grill, netting and fencing of iron or steel wire, and expanded metal.
- 7317: nails, tacks, staples and similar articles.
- We have separate pages for stranded wire, chains and springs.
- Heading names in this page that HMRC's CBAM pages do not print come from the UK Trade Tariff.
What stays named
- Wire and wire rod under chapter 72, for example when a UK buyer imports coils of wire.
- 7318: screws, bolts, nuts, washers and similar articles.
- 7326: other articles of iron or steel, which includes articles of iron or steel wire, and ladders and steps. These are on the list and have default values.
The code is what counts (our reading)
Our reading, not HMRC's: goods that fit a specific heading, such as nails in 7317 or mesh in 7314, are classified there and not in the catch-all 7326. If a wire product does not fit any named heading, it may end up in 7326, which is on the list. That is a classification question for the buyer's customs broker, so ask for the 8-digit code before you quote.
What to do
- Get the 8-digit code your buyer will declare, in writing.
- If a code is unclear, ask HMRC through its questions page.
- Keep your wire supplier's records. A buyer that imports your wire, rather than your nails, falls under the named chapter.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into dated, fingerprinted records. It does not set commodity codes or tell you whether a product is in the UK CBAM. Your buyer's customs broker, or HMRC, settles that.
- Chains, springs and wire rope
- Steel wire articles, ladders and pallets
- Steel wire default values
- Which listed code covers my code
- UK CBAM for Indian exporters
Sources: HMRC, Goods within the iron and steel sector (updated 16 July 2026), HMRC, Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM): Policy summary (updated 2 November 2026), HMRC, UK CBAM iron and steel default values (published 16 October 2026), HMRC, Send HMRC questions about CBAM, UK Integrated Online Tariff, heading names for 7313, 7314 and 7317
Last reviewed 2026-11-07. List checked against HMRC's iron and steel scope page (updated 16 July 2026) and the policy summary annex (updated 2 November 2026). Classification of a specific product is for a customs broker or HMRC. Re-check each year. Heading names for 7313, 7314 and 7317 are from the UK Integrated Online Tariff.