Straw hats and plaited headgear from China

Zero duty on plaited headgear

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 26 September 2026, hats and other headgear plaited or made by assembling strips of any material, whether or not lined or trimmed, carried 0% duty on goods from China, with no anti-dumping measure. The heading covers straw, paper straw, raffia, seagrass, palm and plastic strip hats as long as the crown and brim are plaited or assembled from strips.

Knitted hats, caps and hats sewn from fabric are in heading 6505, covered in our caps and hats guide, so a fabric bucket hat with a straw-look print is not a straw hat. Confirm the commodity code from how the body is made.

Safety, labels and claims

Straw hats are consumer products under the General Product Safety Regulations 2005, so the importer's name and a UK address go on the label or swing tag. Children's hats with chin cords or ties are checked against the limits for cords in BS EN 14682, and a breakaway toggle is common. Hats trimmed with fabric bands carry fibre content for the textile parts under the Textile Products (Labelling and Fibre Composition) Regulations 2012 where they apply.

Sun protection claims such as a UPF rating need a test report for the actual hat, because the open weave of many straw hats lets through far more ultraviolet light than the material itself suggests. Hats made of untreated natural fibre need dry, ventilated packing, as mould is the most common claim.

Worked duty example

For a made-up shipment of 5,000 paper straw sun hats with printed bands under 6504 00 00 00, add the £900 of freight and insurance to the £7,500 free-on-board price and customs sees £8,400. Duty on plaited hats is zero, leaving import VAT of £1,680, 20% of the customs value. For a VAT-registered buyer that is a cash-flow cost rather than a lasting one. A sewn fabric bucket hat or a knitted beanie is classified in heading 6505 instead, at a different rate. The duty and VAT guide walks through the calculation.

What goes wrong

Straw hats fail on mould, shape and colour. Natural straw packed with moisture grows mould on the voyage; brims arrive crushed or warped because hats were nested too tightly; dyed straw and printed bands bleed when wet with rain or sweat; the weave is uneven or has loose ends; sizes run small; and glue on sweatbands and trims marks the straw.

Check moisture and mould on sampled hats and in cartons, test colour fastness to water to ISO 105-E01 and to perspiration to ISO 105-E04 on dyed straw and bands, measure head circumference against the size label, check brims for shape after stacking in the export carton, pull-test chin cords, bows and badges, and look for loose ends and glue marks.

Cambridge China Bridge sources paper straw, raffia and natural straw hats for fashion brands, gift shops and promotional buyers, starting with samples from more than one workshop. See how we handle first orders.