Sourcing sewing needles and pins from China

2% duty

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 26 September 2026, sewing needles, knitting needles, bodkins, crochet hooks, embroidery stilettos and similar hand articles of iron or steel, and safety pins and other pins of iron or steel, heading 7319, carried 2% on goods from China on all three lines, with no anti-dumping measure and no steel measure.

Sewing machine needles are parts of sewing machines under heading 8452 (see our sewing machines guide), and knitting needles and hooks of plastic, bamboo or aluminium are classified by their material. Confirm the commodity code from the material and use.

Product safety

Needles and pins sold to consumers must be safe under the General Product Safety Regulations 2005, which in practice means secure packaging so sharp points are contained, safety pins whose clasp holds the point, and warnings to keep them from young children. Needles and pins packed in craft kits marketed for children also have to meet the toy safety rules for the whole kit.

Retail packs need the product description and the name and address of the producer or importer; see our travel sewing kits guide for mixed kits.

Specifying needles and pins

Specify needle type (sharps, betweens, embroidery, darning, tapestry, beading), size numbers and length, eye type, steel and plating (nickel, gold eye, platinum), point shape, pin length and head type, safety pin sizes and finish, and the pack format and count per pack.

Worked duty example

An invented example rather than a quote: 200,000 packs of hand sewing needles, commodity code 7319 90 10 00, bought for £16,000 free on board, with £1,200 of freight and insurance, so £17,200 is the value customs works from. Duty at the 2% rate for hand sewing needles is £344. VAT at 20% applies to £17,544, so £3,508.80. A VAT-registered buyer usually recovers the VAT, so the border adds £344 to the landed cost. See calculating UK import duty and VAT for the method.

Inspection checklist

Eye and point: check sampled needles under magnification for burrs in the eye that would cut thread and for bent or blunt points, and pass thread through a sample of eyes.

Hardness and spring: check needle hardness by a Vickers test to ISO 6507-1 against the agreed range, bend sample needles to check they spring back rather than snap or stay bent, and open and close safety pins to check the clasp holds.

Corrosion and packing: run neutral salt spray to ISO 9227 on plated needles and pins for the agreed hours, count needles per pack, and check packs close securely.

What goes wrong

Needles and pins fail on finish, temper and plating. Rough eyes fray and cut thread, points are blunt or hooked, needles are too soft and bend or too brittle and snap, plating rusts in a damp shop or on fabric, and packs arrive with short counts or mixed sizes.

Inspect eyes and points under magnification, test temper and plating, and count packs from every batch. See our quality inspection guide.

Cambridge China Bridge sources needles, pins and haberdashery for craft brands and retailers, and has no minimum order of its own; the factory's minimum per pack design applies. See small orders.