Subheading · Chapter 55 · Heading 5511

5511.20

5511.20: Of synthetic staple fibres, containing less than 85 % by weight of such fibres

Subheading 5511.20 belongs to heading 5511 (yarn (other than sewing thread) of man-made staple fibres, put up for retail…) in chapter 55.

What you pay

Importing into UK

Customs duty Free standard rate depends on the country of origin
Additional duties and charges 1 additional measure Import requirements: 4
VAT 20.00 % import VAT
Duty calculatorCalculate duty and taxes →

Rates by national line · UK Global Tariff

UK lines →
  1. 5511 20 00 00 Of synthetic staple fibres, containing less than 85% by weight of such fibres Free

Additional duties and import rules

Charges on top of the customs duty, and rules the goods must meet at the border.

Additional duties and charges 1

  • Duty suspensionAirworthiness tariff suspension Free
    Applies to goods from
    all countries
    Legal act
    S.I. 2018/1249
    Documents
    • C119 Authorised Release Certificate — EASA Form 1 (Appendix I to Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 748/2012), or equivalent certificate

Import requirements 4

  • Prohibition or restrictionImport prohibition
    Applies to goods from
    North Korea
    Legal act
    S.I. 2019/411
  • Import controlRestriction on entry into free circulation
    Applies to goods from
    Ukraine
    Legal act
    S.I. 2022/395
    Documents
    • 9009
    • 9010
    • 9017
  • Import controlRestriction on entry into free circulation
    Applies to goods from
    North Korea
    Legal act
    S.I. 2019/411
    Documents
    • Y084 Derogation from import prohibition by virtue of Article 16i (1) of Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1509
  • Import controlImport control on restricted goods and technologies
    Applies to goods from
    Iran
    Legal act
    S.I. 2019/461
    Documents
    • Y966 Goods other than those described in the MG footnotes linked to the measure (Missile Technology Control Regime list - Annex III of Reg. (EU) 267/2012)

Preferential rates by country

Agreement or schemeCountriesRate
standard rate (no agreement)—Free
DCTS Comprehensive
Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin and 38 more

Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo - Kinshasa, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kiribati, Laos, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, São Tomé & Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tuvalu, Uganda, Yemen, Zambia

Free
European Union (including code "EU")
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia and 23 more

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden

Free
DCTS Enhanced
Algeria, Bolivia, Cape Verde, Congo - Brazzaville and 13 more

Algeria, Bolivia, Cape Verde, Congo - Brazzaville, Cook Islands, Kyrgyzstan, Micronesia, Mongolia, Nigeria, Niue, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu

Free
CARIFORUM
Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize and 10 more

Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago

Free
OCTs (Overseas Countries and Territories)
Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands and 7 more

Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands, St Helena, Turks & Caicos Islands

Free
Central America Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama Free
SADC EPA Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia Free
Eastern and Southern Africa States Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, Zimbabwe Free
CPTPP Brunei, Malaysia Free
UK–Andorra agreement Andorra Free
UK–Albania agreement Albania Free
UK–Australia agreement Australia Free
UK–Canada agreement Canada Free
UK–Switzerland agreement Switzerland Free
UK–Côte d’Ivoire agreement Côte d’Ivoire Free
UK–Chile agreement Chile Free
UK–Cameroon agreement Cameroon Free
UK–Colombia agreement Colombia Free
UK–Ceuta & Melilla agreement Ceuta & Melilla Free
UK–Ecuador agreement Ecuador Free
UK–Egypt agreement Egypt Free
UK–Fiji agreement Fiji Free
UK–Faroe Islands agreement Faroe Islands Free
UK–Georgia agreement Georgia Free
UK–Ghana agreement Ghana Free
DCTS Standard Indonesia Free
UK–Israel agreement Israel Free
UK–India agreement India Free
UK–Iceland agreement Iceland Free
UK–Jordan agreement Jordan Free
UK–Japan agreement Japan Free
UK–Kenya agreement Kenya Free
UK–South Korea agreement South Korea Free
UK–Lebanon agreement Lebanon Free
UK–Liechtenstein agreement Liechtenstein Free
UK–Morocco agreement Morocco Free
UK–Moldova agreement Moldova Free
UK–North Macedonia agreement North Macedonia Free
UK–Mexico agreement Mexico Free
UK–Norway agreement Norway Free
UK–New Zealand agreement New Zealand Free
UK–Peru agreement Peru Free
UK–Papua New Guinea agreement Papua New Guinea Free
UK–Palestinian Territories agreement Palestinian Territories Free
UK–Serbia agreement Serbia Free
UK–Solomon Islands agreement Solomon Islands Free
UK–Singapore agreement Singapore Free
UK–San Marino agreement San Marino Free
UK–Tunisia agreement Tunisia Free
UK–Türkiye agreement Türkiye Free
UK–Ukraine agreement Ukraine Free
UK–Vietnam agreement Vietnam Free
UK–Samoa agreement Samoa Free
UK–Kosovo agreement Kosovo Free
UK–South Africa agreement South Africa Free

UK: imports by month

last 12 months£3.2m+10.5% · previous 12 months
Average import price£7.40 per kg
Jan 2024: £565kFeb 2024: £418kMar 2024: £294kApr 2024: £307kMay 2024: £271kJun 2024: £159kJul 2024: £286kAug 2024: £470kSept 2024: £345kOct 2024: £239kNov 2024: £200kDec 2024: £185kJan 2025: £298kFeb 2025: £260kMar 2025: £286kApr 2025: £238kMay 2025: £206kJun 2025: £236kJul 2025: £153kAug 2025: £238kSept 2025: £192kOct 2025: £199kNov 2025: £148kDec 2025: £343kJan 2026: £173kFeb 2026: £249kMar 2026: £373kApr 2026: £210kMay 2026: £267kJun 2026: £195kJul 2026: £572kAug 2026: £266k 202420252026
Data up to August 2026 (provisional) · Monthly data: Eurostat Comext (CC BY 4.0), HMRC (OGL v3.0)

Main suppliers, last 12 months

CountryValueShareChange
Türkiye £2.1m 66% +2%
India £675k 21.2% +36.9%
China £386k 12.1% +40.9%
Italy £9k 0.3% -46.6%
United States £5k 0.2% +276.4%
Peru £3k 0.1% -89.7%
Indonesia £3k 0.1% +46.1%
Ireland £2k 0.1% +29%

Same subheading in other tariffs

World trade in 2024

5511.20 · US$83m

Trade value (US$) no reported trade < US$53kUS$53k+US$222k+US$2m+> US$5m

Exports: 79
  1. Türkiye: US$35m
  2. China: US$20m
  3. India: US$5m
  4. Italy: US$5m
  5. Germany: US$4m
  6. Spain: US$2m
  7. France: US$2m
  8. Romania: US$2m
  9. Peru: US$1m
  10. Netherlands: US$1m
  11. United States: US$1m
  12. Egypt: US$853k
  13. United Kingdom: US$703k
  14. Vietnam: US$413k
  15. Bulgaria: US$397k
  16. Poland: US$359k
  17. Lithuania: US$310k
  18. South Korea: US$265k
  19. Czechia: US$222k
  20. Malaysia: US$217k
  21. Russia: US$170k
  22. Taiwan: US$155k
  23. Slovenia: US$155k
  24. Portugal: US$154k
  25. Thailand: US$134k
  26. Canada: US$124k
  27. Belgium: US$107k
  28. Japan: US$98k
  29. Sweden: US$82k
  30. Honduras: US$80k
  31. Brazil: US$77k
  32. Greece: US$71k
  33. Austria: US$70k
  34. Slovakia: US$61k
  35. Serbia: US$61k
  36. Norway: US$58k
  37. Croatia: US$53k
  38. Finland: US$46k
  39. Pakistan: US$42k
  40. Argentina: US$41k
  41. Hungary: US$40k
  42. United Arab Emirates: US$38k
  43. Mexico: US$38k
  44. North Macedonia: US$34k
  45. Australia: US$24k
  46. Denmark: US$22k
  47. Estonia: US$21k
  48. Latvia: US$15k
  49. Indonesia: US$15k
  50. Madagascar: US$14k
  51. Hong Kong SAR China: US$13k
  52. Switzerland: US$13k
  53. Mauritius: US$13k
  54. Belarus: US$11k
  55. New Zealand: US$9k
  56. Ireland: US$7k
  57. Iceland: US$4k
  58. Kazakhstan: US$2k
  59. Nicaragua: US$2k
  60. Singapore: US$1k

Top exporters

RankCountryValueShare
1 Türkiye US$35m 42.2%
2 China US$20m 24%
3 India US$5m 6.3%
4 Italy US$5m 6.2%
5 Germany US$4m 4.3%
6 Spain US$2m 2%
7 France US$2m 2%
8 Romania US$2m 2%
9 Peru US$1m 1.3%
10 Netherlands US$1m 1.3%

Top importers

RankCountryValueShare
1 United States US$11m 13.2%
2 Germany US$6m 7.4%
3 United Kingdom US$5m 6.1%
4 Belarus US$5m 6%
5 France US$4m 4.9%
6 Russia US$4m 4.7%
7 Uzbekistan US$3m 3.8%
8 Netherlands US$3m 3.5%
9 Canada US$3m 3.5%
10 Italy US$2m 3%

Binding rulings for similar goods 18

Decisions of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CROSS) and HMRC (Advance Tariff Rulings) on goods classified here. A ruling binds only its holder, but shows how the authorities classify similar goods. The descriptions are the authorities’ own, in English.

  • N340538 U.S. CBP 26 June 2025 · 5511.20.00.00

    The tariff classification of yarns from China and Turkey

  • N321336 U.S. CBP 21 January 2022 · 5511.20.00.00

    The tariff classification of yarns from China

  • N317835 U.S. CBP 24 August 2021 · 5511.20.00.00

    The tariff classification of yarns from China and India

  • N310090 U.S. CBP 23 March 2020 · 5511.20.00.00

    The tariff classification of yarn from China

  • N310091 U.S. CBP 23 March 2020 · 5511.20.00.00

    The tariff classification of a yarn from Turkey

  • N308536 U.S. CBP 17 January 2020 · 5511.20.00.00

    The tariff classification of yarns from Turkey and China

18 rulings in total for this code

The UK Global Tariff has one tariff line for subheading 5511.20; the duty is duty-free.

Subheading 5511.20 is a single line in the EU Combined Nomenclature, where the duty is 5%.

174 countries pay no duty in the UK thanks to trade agreements and preference schemes such as DCTS Comprehensive and European Union, against a standard rate of Free.

Imports of these goods into the UK came to £3.2m between September 2025 and August 2026 (up 11% on the year before); Türkiye supplied 66%, followed by India.

In 2024, countries exported these goods worth US$83m (−12% year on year).

The largest exporter was Türkiye (US$35m), followed by China.

Questions and answers

What is the HS code for of synthetic staple fibres, containing less than 85 % by weight of such fibres?

Of synthetic staple fibres, containing less than 85 % by weight of such fibres fall under HS subheading 5511.20, part of heading 5511, in section XI of the Harmonized System.

What is the import duty on of synthetic staple fibres, containing less than… in the UK?

Under the UK Global Tariff, imports under 5511.20 from countries without a preferential agreement are free of duty. Preferential rates, anti-dumping duties and VAT are not included.

What is the import duty on of synthetic staple fibres, containing less than… in the EU?

Under the EU Combined Nomenclature, imports under 5511.20 from countries without a preferential agreement are charged at 5%. Preferential rates, anti-dumping duties and VAT are not included.

Which country exports the most of synthetic staple fibres, containing less than…?

Türkiye, with US$35m in 2024 (42.2% of world exports).

Which countries can export these goods to the UK duty-free?

174 countries pay no duty under a trade agreement or preference scheme, among them partners under DCTS Comprehensive, European Union, DCTS Enhanced. The goods must meet the agreement’s rules of origin and the importer needs proof of origin; otherwise the standard rate of Free applies. Pick a country above to see its rate.

Where does the UK import these goods from?

In the 12 months to August 2026, the largest suppliers were Türkiye (66%), India (21%) and China (12%), out of total imports of £3.2m.