Sourcing shoe soles, uppers and insoles
Footwear parts from China, including uppers, rubber and plastic outer soles, leather soles, heels, removable insoles and uppers lasted to inner soles without an outer sole, pay 0% UK duty with no anti-dumping duty. Complete shoes pay much more. Leather uppers must meet the REACH chromium VI limit. Cambridge China Bridge sources footwear components.
Shoe uppers, outer soles, heels and removable insoles from China pay 0% UK duty. Sole materials, bonding, slip resistance, chromium VI and a worked example.
0% duty
Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 26 September 2026, uppers and their parts, outer soles and heels of rubber or plastics, outer soles of leather, removable insoles, and assemblies of uppers fixed to inner soles but without outer soles carried 0% duty on goods from China, with no anti-dumping measure. Once an outer sole is attached the item is a complete shoe in headings 6401 to 6405 at much higher rates, so the stage of assembly decides the commodity code.
| Goods | Commodity code | Duty | Anti-dumping duty on China |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uppers and parts of leather, not hand-made | 6406 10 10 90 | 0% | None |
| Uppers and parts of other materials, not hand-made | 6406 10 90 90 | 0% | None |
| Outer soles and heels of rubber | 6406 20 10 90 | 0% | None |
| Outer soles and heels of plastics | 6406 20 90 90 | 0% | None |
| Uppers fixed to inner soles, without outer soles | 6406 90 30 90 | 0% | None |
| Removable insoles and other removable accessories | 6406 90 50 90 | 0% | None |
| Outer soles of leather or composition leather | 6406 90 60 90 | 0% | None |
Materials and chemicals
Sole materials behave differently: rubber grips and wears well, thermoplastic rubber is cheap and easy to mould, polyurethane is light but can hydrolyse and crumble after a few years in storage, and EVA is light and cushioning but compresses. Specify hardness, density, abrasion resistance and slip resistance, tested to BS EN ISO 13287 for soles that go into work or safety shoes, and ask the factory which primer and adhesive system the sole is designed for.
Entry 47 of REACH Annex XVII limits chromium VI in leather articles that contact the skin to 3 mg/kg, which covers leather uppers and linings, and entry 43 restricts azo dyes that release listed amines in leather and textile parts in skin contact. The finished shoe maker also has to meet the footwear labelling rules for upper, lining and sole materials. See the own-brand footwear guide and UK REACH for importers.
Worked duty example
An invented example rather than a quote: 40,000 pairs of TPR outer soles, commodity code 6406 20 90 90, bought for £32,000 free on board, with £3,000 of freight and insurance, so £35,000 is the value customs works from. No duty is due on plastic outer soles; import VAT at 20% of £35,000 is £7,000. If you are VAT-registered, that VAT is normally reclaimable. Finished shoes would pay far more: complete footwear is classified in headings 6401 to 6405. See calculating UK import duty and VAT for the method.
What goes wrong
Footwear parts fail on bonding, dimensions and materials. Soles delaminate because the surface was not primed for the adhesive used on the assembly line, polyurethane soles crumble after months in a warehouse, and moulded soles shrink so they no longer match the last. Uppers arrive with stitching off-grade, colour differing between leather hides, and leather testing high for chromium VI, while insoles lose their cushioning within weeks.
Run a bond strength test with your own primer and adhesive on sample soles, check sole dimensions against the last and grading for every size, measure hardness, density and abrasion, age polyurethane samples for hydrolysis, test leather for chromium VI and azo dyes, check stitching and colour matching on uppers, and compression-test insoles.
Cambridge China Bridge sources outer soles, uppers, insoles and part-assembled footwear for shoe makers and repairers, with bond tests and chemical checks agreed before production. See our footwear component sourcing.
Frequently asked questions
What is the UK import duty on shoe soles from China?
Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 26 September 2026, outer soles, uppers, insoles and other footwear parts of heading 6406 carried 0% duty from China.
When does an upper become a complete shoe for duty?
Once an outer sole is attached. Complete footwear is classified in headings 6401 to 6405 at higher rates.
Which chemical limits apply to leather uppers?
REACH entry 47 limits chromium VI to 3 mg/kg, and entry 43 restricts certain azo dyes.
Why do polyurethane soles crumble?
Some polyurethane hydrolyses with age and humidity, so test aged samples before buying stock.