Sourcing duvet covers from China

Duvet cover duty by fabric and construction

Heading 6302 covers bed linen, table linen, toilet linen and kitchen linen. This guide concerns unfilled duvet covers within its bed-linen lines. Fibre composition, printing and knitted, woven or nonwoven construction affect the classification. For the wider heading, see our cotton hotel pillowcases guide.

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 30 September 2026, ordinary cotton, woven man-made-fibre, flax or ramie and knitted duvet-cover lines carried 12% duty for goods from China. Printed and unprinted nonwoven man-made-fibre lines carried 6%. The supplied tariff facts list no anti-dumping or countervailing duty, suspensions or attached import controls for these lines.

Give your customs broker the composition, construction and printing details, together with a sample or photographs, to confirm the commodity code. Describe covers separately from filled duvets in the buying specification.

Specify fabric, washed fit and closures

Specify fibre composition, weave, fabric weight and how any thread-count claim is measured. Record finished dimensions before and after the agreed wash, acceptable shrinkage, seam allowance, opening length and closure type. Approve print placement, shade, button attachment or zip operation on a finished sample.

For sale in Great Britain, the fibre-content label is required, and consumer products must be safe in normal or reasonably foreseeable use. Agree label artwork and care instructions before production. Match the wash trial to the intended retail or hotel laundering process, and settle testing with testing and certification support.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: 600 cotton duvet covers, not printed; illustrative order under 6302 31 00 00, invoiced at £9,000 free on board, with £800 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £9,800. Duty at 12% is £1,176. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £10,976, so it is £2,195.20. Import taxes total £3,371.20; a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim the VAT, so the lasting cost is the £1,176 of duty. The import duty and VAT guide explains each step.

Inspection checklist

Fit: measure finished covers on arrival and after the agreed wash; check that the intended duvet fits without bunching or exposed corners.

Fabric: compare composition evidence, weight, weave and shade with the approved sample; wash samples to check shrinkage, colour transfer and pilling.

Make-up: inspect corner seams and the opening; operate zips, check button attachment and look for skipped stitches, sharp parts and loose threads.

Labels and packing: compare fibre labels with the agreed composition, check care instructions and size identification, and inspect across cartons for dampness or mixed shades. Set the sampling brief through quality inspection.

What goes wrong

A cover can fit before washing but become too short afterwards. Printed panels may twist, dark colours may transfer, brushed fabrics may pill, and closures may pull away from the seam. Mixed dye lots can leave a bed-linen range visibly mismatched.

Keep a sealed finished sample and written acceptance criteria. Test bulk fabric and finished covers using the agreed laundering process before shipment, then repeat dimensional and closure checks on arrival. Record defects by production batch so the factory can trace the affected stock.

Cambridge China Bridge sources these products for UK businesses, checking the factory and the documents before shipment. See factory verification. For own-brand ranges, see sourcing for brands.