Sourcing caps and hats from China

Duty

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 25 September 2026, peaked caps and other hats and headgear knitted or made up from textile fabric carried 2% duty on goods from China, with no anti-dumping measure. Protective headgear such as helmets is classified separately; see the cycle helmet guide. Hats of fur felt, or of felt of wool and fur, made from the hat bodies, hoods or plateaux of heading 6501, 6505 00 10 00, carried 4%, as a check on 27 September 2026 confirmed. For plaited headgear, see our straw hats sourcing guide.

Caps are light and nest well, so freight is a small share of the landed price, and decoration is a large one.

Fibre label

Article 14 of Regulation 1007/2011, as it applies in Great Britain, requires the fibre composition of textile products on a durable, easily legible label or marking. Put it on the inside label with the size and care information, and check it against the fabric at inspection.

Retail caps also carry a brand label and swing tag; the labels guide covers the options.

Construction and decoration

A cap is specified by its panels, crown height, brim shape, closure and fabric, and a logo by its method: flat or 3D embroidery, a woven or rubber patch, or print. Send the artwork with Pantone colours and stitch counts, approve a physical sample, and check embroidery density and placement on production pieces.

Sizing is usually one adjustable size for caps and stretch sizes for fitted styles and beanies; agree the head circumference range and the closure.

Worked duty example

Suppose, purely for illustration, you import 20,000 embroidered baseball caps under 6505 00 30 00. At £36,000 free on board and £2,500 to ship and insure, the customs value is £38,500. Peaked caps at 2% pay £770 of duty; VAT is then worked out on value plus duty, £39,270, giving £7,854. Of the £8,624 paid at import, only the £770 of duty stays a cost for a VAT-registered business. Disposable hair nets under 6505 00 90 90 have a 0% suspension until 31 December 2028. The method is set out in how UK import duty and VAT work.

Inspection checklist

Colour and fabric: shell and sweatband fabrics tested for colour fastness to perspiration by ISO 105-E04, rubbing by ISO 105-X12 and washing by ISO 105-C06, fibre content checked by the ISO 1833 series against the label, and dyed parts screened for the azo dyes restricted by UK REACH Annex XVII entry 43.

Construction and fit: crown height, brim length and head circumference measured on samples from every colour against the approved spec, embroidery stitch count and backing checked against the logo file, and closures, snaps and straps pull-tested; children's caps with cords or toggles checked against BS EN 14682.

Finish and packing: loose threads, puckering, glue marks and uneven brims checked piece by piece at the agreed AQL, caps packed with crown supports or nested so shapes do not crush, and carton counts, size and colour breakdown and labels checked against the packing list.

What goes wrong

Caps fail on the logo, the shape and the finish. Embroidery puckers or has broken threads and colours that miss the Pantone reference, 3D embroidery flattens, crowns collapse because the buckram is too soft, and brims bend unevenly. Sweatbands shrink or bleed dye onto foreheads, snapback and strap closures break, and caps labelled one size fit only a narrow range of head sizes.

Approve a physical sample with the logo in position and thread colours matched to Pantone, check stitch density and backing, measure crown height, brim length and head circumference on samples from each colour, rub-test the sweatband for colour transfer, pull-test closures, and check the fibre and care label against the fabric.

Minimums and timing

Minimums are usually per colour and logo, lower for stock blanks decorated to order and higher for custom fabrics. Event and promotional caps have fixed dates, so plan production and freight back from the date; the promotional merchandise guide covers the wider category.

Cambridge China Bridge sources promotional and own-label caps and hats, with samples, decoration and labels approved before production. See how our sourcing service works. For UK brands selling into China, see our guide to exporting gloves and hats to China.