UK import duty on clothing by country: Bangladesh, China, India, Vietnam, Pakistan and Turkey compared

For the two garment codes we read in the UK Trade Tariff on 23 September 2026, cotton T-shirts (6109 10 00 10) and men’s cotton denim trousers (6203 42 31 00), UK import duty is 0% from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India, Vietnam, Turkey, Morocco and the EU, 9.6% from Indonesia and 12% from China, which has no trade preference with the UK. Import VAT of 20% comes on top, charged on the value of the goods plus the duty.

None of those 0% rates is automatic. Each depends on the garment meeting the rule of origin for that country’s route, and on your import declaration claiming the preference with the right proof. Miss either and the goods pay the 12% third-country rate. Duty is set code by code, so treat these figures as a comparison for two codes, check your own and confirm them with your customs broker.

UK import duty on clothing by country, September 2026

The last column is the start date of the measure in force today, as the Trade Tariff records it.

Import VAT is 20% on both codes whatever the origin, with a zero rate for garments that qualify as young children’s clothing, covered below. For a country that is not in the table, select it in the Trade Tariff’s country filter: the import duties table will show either a preference or the 12% third-country rate.

Three routes decide the rate

Every rate in the table comes from one of three places.

• Third-country duty. The UK Global Tariff rate, 12% on both codes, applies to goods from any country without a preference, and to goods from a preference country when the claim is missing or rejected.
• The Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS). The UK’s scheme of lower tariffs for developing countries, set out in three tiers.
• Trade agreements. Agreements between the UK and partners such as the EU, Turkey, Vietnam, India and Morocco. Each has its own rules of origin and its own list of accepted proofs.

The government’s guide to the DCTS tiers explains who sits where. Comprehensive Preferences, for the least developed countries, give 0% on 99.8% of products, everything except arms and ammunition. Enhanced Preferences, for low and lower-middle income countries that are not least developed, give 0% on 92% of product lines. Standard Preferences cover just two countries, India and Indonesia, with 0% on 65% of lines and reduced rates on a further 26%. On both codes checked here, the Standard rate is 9.6%, a fifth below the 12% third-country rate.

Bangladesh, Pakistan and the other DCTS countries

Bangladesh is in the Comprehensive tier, alongside Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal and the other least developed countries. Some sourcing pages still place it in the Enhanced tier. That is where it is due to move after graduating, not where it is today, although for these two codes the result is the same: both tiers show 0%.

The rule of origin is what makes the DCTS so useful for clothing. Garments in Chapters 61 and 62 need only one significant manufacturing process in a DCTS country, such as cutting and sewing, and depending on the garment up to 100% of the inputs can come from other countries. A T-shirt cut and sewn in Bangladesh from imported jersey can therefore qualify, which is not the case under the EU, Turkey or Vietnam agreements described below.

Pakistan and Sri Lanka are in the Enhanced tier, and both codes show 0% for it. Tables that give Pakistan 9.6% have confused Enhanced with Standard, which covers only India and Indonesia. Since 1 January 2026, Enhanced tier countries also follow the same garment rules of origin as the least developed countries, so factories there can, for many garments, cut and sew imported fabric and still qualify. When the change took effect, GOV.UK noted that the online copies of the DCTS regulations were still being updated, so ask your broker to apply the rule in force from that date. Our Bangladesh vs Pakistan guide compares the two countries beyond duty.

Of the countries in the table, Indonesia is the only one on 9.6% for these codes. India is also listed in the Standard tier, but on the denim code the Standard measure excludes India, and for both codes India now uses its own trade agreement.

India, Vietnam, Turkey and the EU: 0% with stricter origin rules

The trade agreements give the same 0% as the DCTS on these codes, but most ask for more of the work to happen in the partner country. The origin tab of the Trade Tariff shows each rule.

• India. The tariff shows 0% from 15 July 2026 under the UK-India Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, so tables that still give India 9.6% are out of date. For knitted garments the rule is a change of tariff heading plus a qualifying value content of at least 40% of the ex-works price or 45% of the free-on-board value by the build-down method, or 35% by the build-up method. Imported fabric can work, provided enough of the value is added in India.
• Vietnam. 0% since 1 January 2025 under the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, so tables showing a phase-down running to 2031 are wrong for these codes. For a cut-and-sewn knitted garment the rule is knitting and making-up, including cutting, so sewing imported jersey is not enough on its own. Vietnam can also claim 0% under the CPTPP, the trans-Pacific agreement, whose rule is stricter still: the yarn and fabric generally have to originate in member countries, and the garment must be cut or knitted to shape and sewn there.
• Turkey and the EU. Both show 0%, and for a cut-and-sewn knitted garment both use the same rule: knitting or crocheting combined with making-up, including cutting of the fabric. A T-shirt sewn in Portugal or Turkey from jersey knitted in China does not meet it and pays 12%.

That is the practical difference for a UK buyer. A factory in Bangladesh, Cambodia or Pakistan can, depending on the garment, buy fabric from abroad and still ship at 0%. A factory in Portugal, Turkey or Vietnam generally needs fabric that counts as originating under its own agreement. Our comparisons of Bangladesh, Vietnam, China and India and of Bangladesh, Portugal and Turkey cover cost, scale and lead times.

Claiming 0%: proof of origin and declaration codes

The preference is claimed on the import declaration, usually by your broker, and it rests on a proof of origin supplied by the exporter.

• DCTS countries, including Bangladesh and Pakistan. GOV.UK accepts two proofs: an origin declaration made out on an invoice, packing list, delivery note or other commercial document, or a Form A, which the UK does not require to be stamped by the exporting country’s customs authority. An origin declaration is valid for 2 years. Your broker enters document code 9001 (origin declaration) or N865 (Form A) in data element 2/3 and a preference code in the 200 series in data element 4/17. If the preference was not claimed at import, HMRC may still grant it on a claim made within 2 years of the date of importation.
• EU. A statement on origin from the exporter, or the importer’s knowledge. Any EU exporter can make the statement for consignments worth less than £5,400 or €6,000; above that, the exporter must hold a registered exporter (REX) number and quote it.
• India. An origin declaration (code 9001), a certificate of origin (N954) or the importer’s knowledge (U112), with a preference code in the 300 series.
• Vietnam under the CPTPP. Code 9081, a certification of origin made out by the exporter, producer or importer (9U01, 9U02 or 9U03), and a 300-series preference code.

Nothing in the UK’s DCTS guidance asks the exporter in Bangladesh to be registered in REX, and it sets no €6,000 threshold. That threshold is real, but in UK imports it applies to exporters in the EU under the UK-EU agreement. Pages that apply it to UK imports from Bangladesh have mixed up the two. The EU’s own rules for goods from Bangladesh are different again; our proof of origin guide covers the documents for each market.

Import VAT: 20% on the duty-paid value

HMRC builds the value for import VAT by adding to the customs value any duty payable on import and the incidental expenses. Duty therefore raises the VAT bill too. The example below is illustrative arithmetic for a consignment of cotton T-shirts with a customs value of £10,000, leaving out incidental expenses.

Duty stays in your landed price; ask your accountant how the import VAT is treated in your VAT return. Our landed cost calculator adds freight and fees to the sum.

Children’s clothing can be the exception on VAT. The tariff lists a VAT zero rate on both codes for goods that qualify, and HMRC’s VAT Notice 714 sets the test for young children’s clothing: the item must be clothing or footwear, not made of fur, designed for young children and suitable only for them. HMRC accepts a garment as designed for young children when it is at or within its tabled measurements, which are based on children up to the eve of their 14th birthday. One-size garments that fit both children and adults cannot be zero-rated. Check the tables before sizes are graded, and ask your broker to declare the zero rate only where a garment meets them.

What Bangladesh’s graduation changes, and what it does not

Bangladesh is scheduled to leave the UN’s least developed country group on 24 November 2026. On 18 February 2026 the UN Committee for Development Policy received a request from its government to extend the preparatory period. The Committee concluded that an extension by the General Assembly would be appropriate, provided Bangladesh makes significant progress on domestic reforms, and on 21 July 2026 ECOSOC recommended that the General Assembly act before 24 November 2026. As of 23 September 2026, that decision is pending.

The DCTS tier guide gives a country that graduates a 3-year transition before it moves to Enhanced Preferences. The guide adds that countries in the Enhanced tier must also count as economically vulnerable, a test it currently bases on export diversification, and that countries which do not meet it move to Standard Preferences, 9.6% on both codes today. The Enhanced tier shows 0% on both codes, and since 1 January 2026 it has used the same garment rules of origin as the least developed countries, a change GOV.UK says also benefits countries due to graduate into that tier.

On current rules, then, a UK buyer’s 0% on cotton T-shirts and denim trousers from Bangladesh does not change on graduation day. Tiers and rates can be revised, so recheck the tariff before costing each season. Our LDC graduation guide covers the other markets.

Claims still repeated on sourcing sites

We checked each of these against the primary sources listed below. More claims about duty into the UK, the EU, the US and Canada are checked in our Bangladesh clothing sourcing myths and facts guide.

• Bangladesh is in the Enhanced tier. It is in Comprehensive, and moves to Enhanced only after the 3-year transition that follows graduation, subject to the vulnerability test.
• Pakistan and India pay 9.6%. Not on these codes: Pakistan is in the Enhanced tier at 0%, and India has been at 0% under its agreement since 15 July 2026.
• Vietnam reaches 0% only in the 2030s. It reached 0% on both codes on 1 January 2025.
• The UK needs a REX-registered exporter in Bangladesh above €6,000. The DCTS takes an origin declaration or an unstamped Form A; the REX threshold applies to EU exporters.
• The DCTS needs two stages of processing, such as knitting and sewing, in Bangladesh. One significant process, such as cutting and sewing, is enough for Chapters 61 and 62.
• Budget 12% on everything from Bangladesh. Only if the preference is not claimed or the proof fails.

How to check the rate for your own code

1. Classify each style. Knitted garments sit in Chapter 61 and woven ones in Chapter 62, and the fibre, the wearer and the construction change the last digits. Our HS codes for clothing guide walks through it.
2. Open the 10-digit code in the UK Trade Tariff and select the country of origin. The import duties table shows the third-country rate and any preference.
3. Open the origin tab for the same country. It lists the product-specific rule and the proofs the UK accepts.
4. Find out where the fabric for each style is made, and whether that meets the rule.
5. Give your broker the code, the country of origin and the proof you will receive, and ask them to confirm the claim before the goods ship.

Record the third-country rate as the fallback cost for every style. If a shipment’s proof arrives late or contains an error, that is the rate paid at the border, and for DCTS goods the 2-year window for a later claim is how you recover it.

What to do next

If you are comparing countries for a UK range, cost each style on the same basis: the factory price, freight, the duty for that origin and your broker’s fee. For Bangladesh, our page for UK brands sets out the import workflow step by step.

CMB Sourcing Ltd. is a garments buying house in Narayanganj, Dhaka. We do not own sewing lines: orders are made in audited partner factories, and we name the factory making yours in writing before production, with its address, certificates and audit reports. We check quality on the line, run an AQL final inspection, prepare the export documents and certificates of origin, and ship FOB, CIF or DDP from Chattogram sea port or Dhaka airport. Our own orders start at 1,000 pieces per style and colour for T-shirts and 2,000 for denim.

Send your tech pack or product brief, quantities and UK delivery address through our contact page, and ask for the quote FOB, CIF or delivered duty paid to your door. A founder replies within one working day.