Sourcing woven maternity blouses from China

A flat 12% duty on woven maternity blouses

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 1 October 2026, heading 6206 covers women's or girls' blouses, shirts and shirt-blouses. This guide focuses on women's woven maternity blouses. The supplied lines all carry 12% duty for goods from China, including silk, wool or fine animal hair, cotton, man-made fibres and other textile materials.

The supplied record lists no anti-dumping or countervailing duties and no suspensions. It attaches CITES import and export controls to 6206 20 00 00 and 6206 90 90 00. CITES permit requirements depend on the listed species. For a shipment from China under either line, the importer should confirm the applicable species controls and documents with their customs broker before ordering.

Confirm the code against the actual fabric composition and garment construction using finding your commodity code. Knitted blouses sit outside this heading. The women's blouses and shirts guide covers the wider product family.

Specify bump room and front coverage

Give the factory a maternity size chart with chest, abdominal circumference, shoulder width, sleeve opening and front and back lengths. Specify the position and depth of pleats or gathers, the intended room over the bump and whether ties adjust the fit. Approve samples while standing, sitting and reaching. If nursing access is included, agree its opening, fastening and coverage separately.

Set fabric composition, weave, weight, opacity, shrinkage and colour fastness requirements against an approved sample. Fibre content must be labelled. In Great Britain, consumer products must be safe in normal or reasonably foreseeable use. REACH restrictions can limit, ban or condition substances. Ask a laboratory to review the fabric dyes, finishes and trims against relevant restrictions through testing and certification.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: Illustrative order, not a quote: 1,000 woven cotton maternity blouses under 6206 30 00 90, invoiced at £4,000 free on board, with £600 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £4,600. Duty at 12% is £552. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £5,152, so it is £1,030.40. Import taxes total £1,582.40; a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim the VAT, so the lasting cost is the £552 of duty. The import duty and VAT guide explains each step.

Inspection checklist

Maternity fit: measure garments from every ordered size against the approved chart, checking abdominal room, front length and the position of gathers. Check that sitting does not pull the front hem up or open the button placket.

Fabric: compare handle and opacity with the approved sample, verify fibre composition against the label, and wash-test shrinkage and colour transfer onto pale trims.

Fastenings: check button attachment, buttonholes, tie anchoring and seams around gathered panels. Where nursing openings are specified, check access, closure and coverage on the finished garment.

Arrival: check cartons for dampness, garments for mould or staining, and the size and colour assortment against the packing list. Record discrepancies using the quality inspection guide.

What goes wrong

Simply widening a standard blouse can leave too little front length, tight armholes or gathers above the intended position. A flat sample may look acceptable while the placket gapes over the bump. Agree the maternity measurement points and approve the fit in movement before bulk cutting.

Shrinkage can remove the abdominal room approved at sampling. Lightweight fabrics can become transparent under tension, and seams around gathers can slip. Compare washed samples with the chart, check opacity over the bump and examine stressed seams. Reject changes to fabric or pattern that have not been approved.

Cambridge China Bridge sources these products for UK businesses, checking the factory and the documents before shipment. See factory verification. For own-brand ranges, see sourcing for brands.