Private-label Tyvek and coated-fabric bags from China

Prove the material before anything else

Tyvek is a DuPont brand name for a spunbonded high-density polyethylene nonwoven, and Chinese suppliers often sell generic spunbonded polyethylene under the same description. On a quote the two can look identical. The difference shows up in tear strength, printing, washing and how the bag ages, and in what you are entitled to say on your label.

Ask for the fabric purchase invoice and batch or roll labels from the factory's material supplier, matched to your order quantity, and keep a roll-end sample from each batch. If the listing or packaging will say Tyvek, it has to be the genuine material: describing a substitute that way misleads your customers and uses somebody else's trade mark. If a substitute is acceptable, specify it by weight in g/m², coating and test results instead of by brand.

PU coating decides the duty: 2% or 8%

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 28 September 2026, bags under heading 4202 are classified by their outer surface, and the rate on goods from China changes with it: 2% for an outer surface of textile materials, 8% for plastic sheeting. None of the lines below carried anti-dumping duty.

Note 3 to Chapter 56 keeps a nonwoven that is coated or laminated with plastics in heading 5603, as a textile, whatever the plastic. The exception is a nonwoven completely embedded in plastics, or entirely coated or covered on both sides where the coating can be seen with the naked eye, which moves to Chapter 39 as plastic. So a bag in nonwoven coated on one face is normally textile at 2%, while the same bag coated visibly on both faces may be plastic sheeting at 8%.

On a large repeat order the difference is worth fixing in advance. Send HMRC the fabric specification and a sample and apply for an Advance Tariff Ruling, which is legally binding; our commodity code guide explains the process.

Golden samples and the specification

Approve one pre-production sample in the actual fabric, colour and print, then sign and date it and keep one copy with you and one at the factory. That golden sample is what inspection measures against. Write the rest down: fabric weight and coating, stitch type and stitches per centimetre, seam and handle construction, handle pull strength, print method and colour references, zips and hardware, labels, and carton packing.

Printed nonwovens fail on print rub-off and cracking at folds, and coated fabrics on coating peel at seams. Ask for a rub test on the print and a fold test on the coating before bulk production, and repeat them on bulk goods. Making bulk production match the sample covers how to hold a factory to the sample.

Check that the named factory makes the bags

Brands are often quoted by a trading company that places the order with a sewing workshop elsewhere. That is not wrong in itself, but you need to know who cuts and sews your bags, because that is where quality and delivery are decided. Check the business licence and scope, visit or have someone visit the address on the quote, and confirm that the sewing lines, cutting tables and printing you were shown belong to that company.

Our guides on verifying factory capability and factory or trading company set out the checks. Protect your artwork and brand before sampling; see protecting your IP.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: 2,000 own-brand tote bags in one-side-coated nonwoven under 4202 22 90 90, invoiced at £9,000 free on board, with £700 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £9,700. Duty at 2% is £194. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £9,894, so it is £1,978.80. If the same bags were classified as plastic sheeting under 4202 22 10 00, duty at 8% would be £776, or £582 more on each such order. The import duty and VAT guide explains each step.

Inspection before the balance

Inspect bulk goods before the balance against the golden sample: fabric weight and roll labels, coating, print colour and rub, stitching, handle strength, zips and hardware, labels and carton marks. Quality inspection sets out the stages. For related products see small-run custom handbags, printed tote bags, own-label luggage and nonwoven fabrics.

Cambridge China Bridge develops own-brand products with samples approved before production and inspects the bulk before shipment; see product development and factory verification.

For own-brand ranges from sample to repeat orders, see our service for brands.