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Customs & Duties

Clothing and textiles is one of the UK's largest import categories by volume. If you source garments, fabric, or accessories from overseas, you need to understand the duty rates, how the country of origin affects what you pay, and what HMRC looks for when checking clothing import declarations. The difference between getting this right and wrong can be thousands of pounds per container.

The Standard Rate: 12%

The UK Global Tariff applies a standard duty rate of 12% to most clothing and apparel — applying to garments of all types from countries without a preferential trade agreement with the UK. This is one of the higher standard UKGT rates and applies to clothing sourced from China, the US, Turkey, and most other non-FTA countries.

Some specialist categories attract different rates:

• Babies' garments: 10% woven, 12% knitted
• Certain technical sportswear and performance fabrics: varies by construction and function — can be 6–12%
• Raw fabric and yarn (before cutting/sewing): typically 0–8% depending on fibre type
• Accessories (belts, scarves, hats): 2–12% depending on material and classification

Getting the commodity code right is particularly important in clothing because the 10-digit code determines whether you pay 6%, 10%, or 12% — classify too high and you overpay duty on every order; too low and you're exposed to retrospective demands and penalties. See the full guide to UK import duty calculation for context on how customs value and duty are computed.

How Origin Determines Your Rate

EU clothing: 0% under the TCA. Garments manufactured in EU member states and meeting the TCA's rules of origin (typically requiring the fabric to be woven and the garment to be cut and sewn in the EU) qualify for 0% duty. This gives EU-sourced clothing a significant landed cost advantage over Chinese-sourced equivalents.

India: check the date on your order. India sits in the Standard Preferences tier of the UK's Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS), but since 1 January 2026 its woven apparel, textiles and made-ups (HS chapters 50–58, 62 and 63) have been graduated out of the scheme until the end of 2028 — those goods currently pay the full 12% UKGT. Only knitted apparel (chapter 61) keeps a preferential 9.6% rate. That picture changes on 15 July 2026, when the UK–India trade agreement (CETA) enters into force and eliminates tariffs on clothing and textiles. From that date, qualifying Indian garments enter the UK duty-free — if you're placing orders with Indian suppliers now, the timing of arrival and the origin paperwork are suddenly worth real money.

Bangladesh: 0% under DCTS. Bangladesh sits in DCTS's Comprehensive Preferences tier for Least Developed Countries — duty-free on everything except arms — so garments from Bangladesh enter at 0%.

China: standard 12% UKGT rate. There is no anti-dumping duty on most clothing from China — unlike steel or bicycles — so the standard 12% rate applies without additional surcharges. See the full guide to importing from China for the broader duty picture.

A Worked Example

A UK fashion brand imports £1,000 of woven cotton garments from a manufacturer in Guangzhou, with £70 shipping and £10 insurance.

The same order from a Bangladesh manufacturer under DCTS zero-rate would land at approximately £1,314 — £1,080 CIF, £216 import VAT (20% on £1,080), and the £18 handling fee. That's a saving of around £156 on a single £1,000 order. Across a season of, say, ten orders at this size, the duty-free origin is worth roughly £1,560 — before you've negotiated a penny off the unit price.

The Undervaluation Problem

Undervaluing clothing on import declarations is one of HMRC's priority enforcement areas. The practice — declaring goods at a lower value than the actual transaction price to reduce the duty and VAT liability — is customs fraud. HMRC uses risk profiling, comparing declared values against internal benchmarks for each product category and trade lane. Those benchmarks aren't published — but declarations significantly below the going rate for Chinese clothing are flagged.

If HMRC investigates and finds that you've been undervaluing, you face a demand for the unpaid duty going back three years and the unpaid VAT going back four — or as much as twenty years where the conduct was deliberate, which undervaluation is — plus interest and civil penalties. In serious cases, criminal prosecution follows. The saving from undervaluation is never worth the exposure.

Practical Steps Before Your Next Order

Confirm the exact commodity code for your garments before finalising the purchase order — don't rely on your supplier's description. Check whether the origin country qualifies for DCTS preferences and confirm your supplier can provide documentation. Calculate the full landed cost at the correct duty rate and build this into your wholesale and retail pricing. Use postponed VAT accounting if you're VAT-registered, so the import VAT doesn't create a cash flow problem at the point of import.