Sourcing knitted fabrics from China

8% duty

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 26 September 2026, other knitted or crocheted fabrics of cotton, synthetic or artificial fibres, whether unbleached, dyed, yarn-dyed or printed, carried 8% duty on goods from China, with no anti-dumping measure. Knitted fabrics over 30 cm wide with 5% or more elastane are in heading 6004 at 8%, or 6% where the stretch comes from rubber thread, and pile knits and narrow fabrics have their own headings, so fibre content, elastane share and width decide the commodity code.

Labelling and chemicals

The Textile Products (Labelling and Fibre Names) rules, from Regulation 1007/2011 as it applies in Great Britain, require the fibre composition using the listed fibre names when a textile product, including fabric sold by the metre, is made available to consumers. For fabric bought to make garments, the maker labels the garment, but the composition on the mill's certificate is where that label comes from, so test it.

Entry 43 of REACH Annex XVII restricts azo dyes that release listed aromatic amines in textiles that contact the skin, so ask for a test on each dyed or printed quality. See the women's knitwear guide, the woven polyester fabrics guide and UK REACH for importers.

Worked duty example

Suppose, purely for illustration, you import 20 tonnes of dyed polyester jersey under 6006 32 00 00. At £70,000 free on board and £3,000 to ship and insure, the customs value is £73,000. Dyed synthetic knitted fabrics at 8% pay £5,840 of duty; VAT is then worked out on value plus duty, £78,840, giving £15,768. Of the £21,608 paid at import, only the £5,840 of duty stays a cost for a VAT-registered business. Fabric bought by the kilo is priced by weight, so a shortfall in grams per square metre is a hidden price rise. The method is set out in how UK import duty and VAT work.

What goes wrong

Knitted fabric fails on weight, stability and shade. Rolls come in light on grams per square metre or narrow on usable width, the fabric shrinks or twists after washing so side seams spiral round the body, and shade varies between rolls or across the width so cut panels do not match. Barré stripes, needle lines and holes appear, prints crack on stretch, and dark colours rub off or bleed in the wash.

Measure weight and usable width on every lot, wash-test shrinkage to ISO 6330 and ISO 5077 and measure spirality after washing, check shade between rolls and edge to centre under a light box against the approved lab dip, run a four-point inspection on a sample of rolls for barré, needle lines and holes, and test colour fastness to washing and rubbing to ISO 105-C06 and ISO 105-X12.

Cambridge China Bridge sources jersey, interlock, rib and fleece knits for garment makers and brands, with weight, shrinkage and shade checked roll by roll before shipment. See how we source knitted fabrics.