Sourcing knitted jumpsuits and bodysuits from China

A flat 12%

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 25 September 2026, other knitted or crocheted garments of heading 6114 carried 12% duty on goods from China in cotton, man-made fibres, wool or fine animal hair and other materials, with no anti-dumping measure.

Heading 6114 is residual: tops, dresses, trousers, babywear and tracksuits have their own headings, including the tracksuits guide and the baby clothing guide. Confirm the commodity code. For sleeveless knitted tops, see our knitted sweater vest sourcing guide. For women's shirts and blouses, see our women's knitted tops sourcing guide. For knitted pullovers, see our knitted jumper sourcing guide.

Fibre labels

The Textile Products (Labelling and Fibre Composition) Regulations 2012 require the fibre composition to be shown using permitted fibre names. Test the bulk fabric and put care symbols and sizes on the label artwork.

Fit and fabric

One-piece garments are hard to grade because torso length matters. Approve fit on a full size set, and specify stretch and recovery, fabric weight, shrinkage, fastenings and gusset construction. The apparel guide covers tech packs. For dancewear, see our knitted ballet leotard sourcing guide.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: 2,000 knitted jumpsuits in man-made fibres under 6114 30 00 00, invoiced at £16,000 free on board, with £1,200 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £17,200. Duty at 12% is £2,064. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £19,264, so it is £3,852.80. Import taxes total £5,916.80; a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim the VAT, so the lasting cost is the £2,064 of duty. The import duty and VAT guide explains each step.

Inspection checklist

Fabric: fibre content by quantitative analysis to the ISO 1833 series against the label, stretch and recovery of elastane fabrics by the strip tests of BS EN 14704-1, and dimensional change after washing to ISO 6330 and ISO 5077, with limits written into the order.

Seams and fastenings: seam strength to ISO 13935-2 at the crotch and underarm, pull tests on snaps and press fasteners at an agreed load, with BS 7909 as the code of practice for mechanical safety on children's garments, and nickel release from metal snaps tested to EN 1811 against the UK REACH limit.

Fit and inspection: torso length, chest and inside leg measured on every size against the size chart, colour fastness to washing to ISO 105-C06, and a final random inspection sampled to ISO 2859-1 at the agreed quality level.

What goes wrong

One-piece knitted garments fail at the stress points. Crotch and underarm seams burst when the stitch type or thread does not stretch with the fabric, snaps pull out of thin fabric without a reinforcing tape, and torso length that is too short makes the garment unwearable even when the chest fits. Elastane-rich fabric loses recovery after washing if the fibre content is lower than claimed.

At inspection, stretch-test crotch and underarm seams, pull-test snaps and zips, measure torso length on every size, wash a sample to check shrinkage and recovery, and check that the fibre label matches a test of the bulk fabric.

Inspection

At inspection, measure torso length and body measurements, test snaps and zips, and check seams and labels.

Cambridge China Bridge sources knitted jumpsuits, bodysuits and other garments, with fit and labels settled before the order. See how our sourcing service works.

For own-brand hoodies and sweatshirts, including per-colour minimums and children's cords, see our hoodies and sweatshirts guide.