Sourcing silk yarn from China

0% duty

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 17 November 2026, heading 5004 covers silk yarn, other than yarn spun from silk waste, not put up for retail sale, split into unbleached, scoured or bleached yarn and other yarn such as dyed. All three lines carried 0% on goods from China, with no anti-dumping measure.

Silk waste and noil are covered in our silk waste and noil guide, and silk fabric in our silk fabrics guide; confirm the commodity code.

Specifying silk yarn

Specify filament or spun, denier or metric count, number of ends and twist, degummed or in the gum, grade, colour and dye fastness, and cone or skein put-up. Garments and yarn sold to consumers as silk must be silk, and blends must normally list each fibre on the fibre composition label, subject to the permitted labelling exceptions.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: 200 kg of dyed 20/22 denier silk yarn under 5004 00 90 00, invoiced at £14,000 free on board, with £200 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £14,200. Duty at 0% is £0. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £14,200, so it is £2,840. With no duty, the only import tax is the VAT, which a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim. The import duty and VAT guide explains each step.

Inspection checklist

Testing: check denier or count, twist and strength on samples.

Evenness: check for slubs and uneven sections on a black board.

Colour: compare dyed lots against the standard. See our quality inspection guide.

What goes wrong

Silk yarn orders fail on denier, evenness and lot matching. Denier varies, slubs and knots appear, and dye lots differ.

Cambridge China Bridge sources these materials for UK makers from small lots; see small orders.