The rates (from official sources)
| Item | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Commodity code | 6109 10 00 10, T-shirts of cotton, knitted or crocheted | UK Trade Tariff |
| Customs duty (China) | 12% (third-country duty; China has no UK preference) | UK Trade Tariff |
| Import VAT | 20% of (customs value + duty) | UK Trade Tariff |
| Parcels £135 or less | No customs duty; VAT charged by the seller at checkout | GOV.UK |
| Exchange rate used | £1 = ¥9.0274 (HMRC monthly rate, October 2026) | HMRC exchange rates |
Variants matter: 6109100010 is the men's/women's cotton T-shirt line. Vests, tank tops and other 6109 lines can differ, so check your exact code before you ship.
Worked example: 500 cotton T-shirts by sea
Inputs (example order): 500 shirts at ¥18 each from a 1688 supplier (¥9,000), plus ¥2,500 for freight and insurance to the UK port. The UK charges duty on the value delivered to the UK border, so freight is included.
| Goods, ¥9,000 ÷ 9.0274 | £996.96 |
| Freight and insurance, ¥2,500 ÷ 9.0274 | £276.93 |
| Customs value | £1,273.90 |
| Customs duty 12% | £152.87 |
| Import VAT 20% of (£1,273.90 + £152.87) | £285.35 |
| Total landed cost | £1,712.12 |
| Per shirt, including VAT | £3.42 |
| Per shirt, before VAT (if you're VAT-registered and reclaim it) | £2.85 |
Not included: customs broker or courier clearance fees, UK delivery from the port, and any sourcing-agent fee. Add them in the calculator for your real number.
Selling single shirts direct to UK buyers
If each parcel to a customer in Great Britain is worth £135 or less, there's no customs duty on it. The seller (or the marketplace, if you sell through one) charges UK VAT at checkout instead of the courier collecting it at the door. Once a consignment goes over £135, the buyer or importer pays duty and import VAT at import.
Three things that change the number
Your exact commodity code, since a polyester shirt or a tank top is a different line. The exchange rate, because HMRC publishes a new customs rate every month. And whether you can reclaim import VAT: a VAT-registered business usually accounts for it through postponed VAT accounting, so the before-VAT figure is the real cost.
Run your own order. Put in your supplier price, quantity and freight, and see the UK, US and EU landed cost side by side.
Open the landed cost calculator