Sourcing coats, parkas and jackets from China

Duty and the 1 kg line

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 25 September 2026, women's and men's overcoats, parkas and anoraks of man-made fibres or cotton, and women's coats of wool, all carried 12% duty on goods from China, with no anti-dumping measure. The tariff splits cotton and man-made fibre outerwear by weight per garment, up to 1 kg or over, so a heavy winter parka and a light rain jacket carry different codes at the same rate.

Weigh a production sample, not the pattern estimate, and confirm the commodity code against the outer fabric, which decides the fibre heading.

Labels for down, fur and leather

Article 14 of Regulation 1007/2011, as it applies in Great Britain, requires the fibre composition on a durable, legible label. Article 12 adds a specific requirement for outerwear: where a textile product contains non-textile parts of animal origin, the label must say "Contains non-textile parts of animal origin". Down and feather fill, fur or leather trims and leather branding tabs all bring that line into play.

Build it into the label artwork from the start, and ask the factory for the fill composition and its test report, because a down jacket's fill is the most expensive and the most commonly substituted material in the garment. For sleeveless padded styles, see our women's padded gilet sourcing guide.

Weatherproofing claims

Waterproof and breathable are test results, not descriptions. If the hang tag gives a waterproof rating, ask for the fabric's hydrostatic head and breathability tests, and for the seams to be taped and tested on the finished garment, since an untaped seam leaks whatever the fabric does. For robe specifications, see waterproof changing robe sourcing. For ski outerwear, see our men's woven ski jacket sourcing guide.

Check zips, snaps and drawcords on production pieces at inspection; the zips and trims guide covers specifying them. For bomber styles, see our men's woven bomber jacket guide. For toggle-fastened styles, see our men's woven duffle coat sourcing guide. For trench styles, see our women's woven trench coats guide.

Worked duty example

Take a hypothetical order of 3,000 women's padded parkas of man-made fibres, entered under 6202 40 10 11: £45,000 free on board plus £3,000 of freight and insurance gives a customs value of £48,000. The 12% duty on parkas comes to £5,760, and import VAT is 20% of £53,760, which is £10,752. If you are VAT-registered you normally reclaim the £10,752, leaving £5,760 as the real cost at the border. Weigh a finished parka: over 1 kg it moves to a different code at the same 12%. Step by step: UK import duty and VAT.

Inspection checklist

Shell and seams: test tear strength of the shell to ISO 13937-2 and seam strength to ISO 13935-2, and colour fastness to rubbing to ISO 105-X12 where a dark shell meets a light lining or collar.

Weather finish: measure spray rating to ISO 4920 before and after washing to ISO 6330 by the care label, and ask for water vapour resistance to ISO 11092 where the hang tag makes a breathability claim.

Fill and children's wear: open a sample garment from each size and weigh the fill against the specification, test down cleanliness for oxygen number to BS EN 1162 and turbidity to BS EN 1164, and check cords on children's coats against BS EN 14682.

What goes wrong

Outerwear fails on fill, weatherproofing and trims. Down jackets arrive with a lower down-to-feather ratio than the label states, or with recycled or feather fill substituted, down fibres work out through the shell because the fabric is not downproof, and seam tape peels after a few washes so a waterproof jacket leaks. Water-repellent finishes wear off fast, zips jam or split, faux fur turns out to be real fur, and colours bleed between shell and lining.

Test down composition to BS EN 12934 and fill power to BS EN 12130 on production garments, test downproofness of the shell fabric to BS EN 12132, check hydrostatic head to ISO 811 and seam tape adhesion after washing, verify faux fur, test zips and colour fastness, and weigh finished garments against the 1 kg line in the tariff.

Season and volume

Outerwear sells in one season, and it is bulky to ship, so the order is planned backwards from the selling date with sea freight and inspection time built in. Fill and fabric minimums set the order size per colour, as they do across apparel.

Cambridge China Bridge sources own-label coats, parkas and jackets: fabric and fill tested, labels matched to the materials, and production inspected before it ships. See how our sourcing service works. For UK-to-China trade, see exporting coats to China.

Related guides: Sourcing PVC and PU coated fabrics from China.