Importing apparel from China: knitted or woven decides more than you think

Apparel is the most forgiving category to source badly and the least forgiving to sell badly. Factories are everywhere, samples are cheap, minimums are approachable — and then the goods arrive with the wrong fit, a mislabelled fibre content, or a duty bill from a heading the buyer never checked. The category's difficulty is not finding a supplier; it is that classification, labelling and fit each have failure modes that only show up after the wire.

The knit/woven split runs through everything

Clothing classification starts with a distinction most new buyers have never had to make: whether the fabric is knitted or woven. The tariff treats them as separate worlds — knitted garments live in one chapter, woven in another — and near-identical products classify apart because of it:

• HS 6109 — T-shirts, singlets and vests, knitted: the knit side's high-volume heading.
• HS 6203 — men's suits, jackets and trousers, not knitted and HS 6204 — the women's equivalent: the woven side, split by gender across two headings.

The same logic from the classification method applies, with the fabric construction as the first question: a knit polo and a woven shirt are different classifications with potentially different duty bands. Gender, and whether a piece is a set or separates, move the code again. Get the construction, fibre and gender into your product description before anyone quotes you a rate.

Fibre content is the second axis — and a labelling obligation

Within a heading, the fibre composition (cotton, synthetic, blends) typically determines the deeper subdivision — and it is also what your destination requires on the garment's label. Two consequences:

• The composition on the spec sheet must be the composition in the fabric. Fibre content is testable, and both customs and market-surveillance authorities do test. A "100% cotton" label on a cotton-poly blend is a compliance failure, not a rounding error.
• Labelling is destination-specific. Fibre content, care instructions, origin marking and language requirements differ by market; some destinations also have their own registration numbers or identity marks for the responsible party. Which rules apply is a question for your forwarder or broker per the customs-clearance sequence — settle the label artwork before production, because relabelling finished garments erases the margin.

Fit is a spec, not a hope

The costliest apparel failures are rarely about customs — they are about fit and consistency:

• Grade rules and measurement charts belong in the order. A size chart with tolerances per measurement point turns "the fit is off" into a checkable claim at inspection.
• The production sample, not the salesman sample, is the reference. Approve a sealed sample from production fabric and keep one; the pre-shipment inspection measures against it.
• Colour needs a standard too — approve lab dips against a stated standard and light source, or accept that "navy" is a negotiation.

The general supplier checks still apply, with one apparel-specific tell: ask whether cutting and sewing happen in-house or through subcontractors, and who controls quality when it is the latter — subcontracting is normal in this industry, but unmanaged subcontracting is where consistency dies.

Timing is part of the price

Apparel is seasonal on both ends: your selling season is fixed, and factory capacity tightens predictably before major holidays and peak shipping windows. A quote that assumed a quiet-month production slot is a different deal in the pre-season crush — lead time stretches, freight rates move, and a missed selling window costs more than any duty. Build the calendar backwards from your on-shelf date: production, inspection, freight, clearance, and slack for the step that slips.

Run the numbers per style, not per order

Apparel orders mix styles, fabrics and sometimes headings in one shipment — which means one order can carry several duty treatments. Get the code and rate per style from your broker, then run each through the landed-cost structure in the calculator: fabric and trim cost, freight share, duty on the confirmed code, and the QC and compliance costs that this category makes non-optional. The per-style landed number is what tells you which pieces in the line actually earn their space.

Classifications, labelling rules and duty treatment all vary by destination and by the garment's exact construction — treat this guide as the question list and confirm the specifics with your customs broker before committing to production. For a head start, describe the garment — construction, fibre, gender, destination — and get the likely headings and the factory questions in one brief.