Mattresses, pillows and bedding from China

2% on mattresses and fillings, 12% on bed linen

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 26 September 2026, mattresses of cellular rubber or plastics, spring interior and other mattresses, duvets and quilts filled with down or other materials, and pillows and cushions all carried 2% duty on goods from China, with no anti-dumping measure. Bed linen is in a different chapter: cotton sheets, pillowcases and duvet covers, plain or printed, carried 12%.

Bedding sets that combine a duvet and covers are classified item by item or by the component that gives the set its character, so ask the factory to invoice them separately where possible and confirm the commodity code. Throws and bedspreads are covered in our throws guide, and foam in our foam guide.

Fire safety and labelling

Mattresses, pillows, cushions and their fillings sold for use in homes must meet the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988: mattresses are tested for resistance to cigarette and match ignition, commonly to BS 7177 or BS EN 597-1 and BS EN 597-2, and fillings must pass the ignitability tests for filling materials, with the required labels. Contract mattresses for hotels are usually specified to a higher BS 7177 hazard category.

Down and feather duvets and pillows are labelled for composition to BS EN 12934 and tested for cleanliness to BS EN 12935, and sheets and covers need fibre labels under the Textile Products (Labelling and Fibre Composition) Regulations 2012. Thread count claims should be backed by a count of threads per unit length to ISO 7211-2. Durability of mattresses is tested to BS EN 1957.

Worked duty example

Suppose, purely for illustration, you import 600 roll-packed pocket-spring mattresses under 9404 29 10 00. At £48,000 free on board and £6,000 to ship and insure, the customs value is £54,000. Spring mattresses at 2% pay £1,080 of duty; VAT is then worked out on value plus duty, £55,080, giving £11,016. Of the £12,096 paid at import, only the £1,080 of duty stays a cost for a VAT-registered business. Printed cotton duvet covers under 6302 21 00 89 would pay 12% on the same value, so bedding sets are costed differently from the mattress. The method is set out in how UK import duty and VAT work.

What goes wrong

Bedding fails on fire safety, recovery and fill. A mattress passes the fire test as a sample but the bulk uses a different cover fabric or foam, roll-packed mattresses do not recover to full height or smell strongly after unpacking, springs poke through, and down duvets contain more feather than the label says. Duvet covers shrink, pill and fade, and pillows go flat because the fill weight is lower than specified.

Tie fire test reports to the exact construction and check the bulk against it, unroll and measure recovery on samples after a storage period, check fill weights and down content on duvets and pillows, run durability tests on mattresses, and wash-test linen for shrinkage, pilling and colour fastness before shipment.

Cambridge China Bridge sources mattresses, pillows, duvets and bed linen for retailers, hotels and online brands, with fire testing and fill checks tied to the production construction. Ask about bedding and mattress sourcing.