Sourcing polyester linen yarn from China

A flat 4% duty on qualifying yarn

Heading 5509 covers synthetic staple fibre yarn other than sewing thread, not put up for retail sale. For polyester-linen blends, check the other polyester yarn line against the actual composition. Yarn containing 85% or more polyester staple fibres has separate single and folded or cabled lines. The cotton-blend row is a comparison for recipes with additional fibres, rather than a description of a polyester-linen-only blend.

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 4 October 2026, all listed lines carried 4% duty for goods from China. The supplied snapshot records no anti-dumping or countervailing duty and no suspension. The polyester-linen candidate lines have no attached import controls. Elsewhere in this heading, wool or fine-animal-hair blend lines have CITES controls attached; if the recipe includes those fibres, confirm the requirement with your customs broker.

Give your broker the tested fibre composition, yarn construction and packing details to confirm the commodity code. Do not classify from the supplier's description of a linen look alone. For the wider heading, see our polyester-viscose blended spun yarn guide.

Specify the linen content and yarn construction

Specify polyester and flax or linen content by weight, yarn count and its measurement system, single or folded construction, twist direction, strength and elongation. State whether slubs are intentional and agree their appearance against a retained sample. Define acceptable hairiness, thick places and thin places so that a textured yarn is not judged against a smooth-yarn sample.

Specify undyed or dyed supply, approved shade, dye-lot separation, cone type, net yarn weight, winding and the intended knitting or weaving process. Ask for composition testing and a trial fabric made from production yarn. Textile labelling rules require fibre content to be shown; check the declared composition against the test report before selling.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: Illustrative order: 8 tonnes of polyester-linen blended spun yarn on cones under 5509 59 00 00, invoiced at £18,000 free on board, with £1,200 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £19,200. Duty at 4% is £768. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £19,968, so it is £3,993.60. Import taxes total £4,761.60; a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim the VAT, so the lasting cost is the £768 of duty. The import duty and VAT guide explains each step.

Inspection checklist

Composition: check laboratory results against the agreed polyester and linen proportions and the consignment's declared fibre content.

Yarn performance: check count, twist, breaking strength, evenness and hairiness on cones drawn from different cartons; compare slubs with the approved sample.

Shade and trial fabric: check dyed cones against the approved shade, keep dye lots separate and knit or weave a panel to reveal barring and excessive variation.

Cones and cartons: check net yarn weight, winding, damaged cone edges, loose ends, dampness and contamination. Record findings using the quality inspection guide.

What goes wrong

A linen appearance can hide an incorrect blend. Too little linen changes the agreed handle, while inconsistent slubs and hairiness alter the fabric surface. Count variation changes fabric weight; weak places and poor winding cause breaks during production.

Mixed dye lots can produce visible barring even when individual cones look acceptable. Agree a trial fabric and retain reference yarn before approving the shipment. On arrival, separate suspect cartons and record the affected lot rather than mixing them into production.

Cambridge China Bridge sources these products for UK businesses, checking the factory and the documents before shipment. See factory verification. For repeat volumes, see container programmes.