HTS codes for clothing: knit vs woven, fiber content and gender

Apparel has some of the highest duty rates in the U.S. tariff schedule and some of the most detailed rules. A single SKU of hoodies can sit under a 16.5% line or a 32% line depending on fiber content that the buyer never sees. CBP knows this, which is why textile entries get lab-tested more than most goods. This guide walks through the logic with real codes.

Question 1: Knit or woven?

Chapter 61 covers made-up articles that are knitted or crocheted. Chapter 62 covers made-up articles of any other textile fabric, which in practice means woven fabric. The garment type matters less at this stage than the fabric construction. A shirt can land in either chapter.

• Knit fabric is made of loops of one yarn. It stretches in both directions and you can see rows of small V shapes on the face. T-shirts, hoodies, leggings and most sweaters are knit.
• Woven fabric is two sets of yarn crossing at right angles. It barely stretches unless it contains elastane. Dress shirts, jeans, chinos and most blouses are woven.

When a garment combines a knit body with woven panels, chief weight does not decide it. Section XI subheading note 2(B)(a) sends you to essential character under GRI 3, which usually means the part that makes up the outer shell or most of the visible surface.

Question 2: Which fiber predominates?

Section XI note 2(A) says a textile made of mixed fibers is classified as if it were made entirely of the fiber that predominates by weight over each other single fiber. A 60% cotton, 40% polyester sweatshirt is classified as cotton. A 40% cotton, 60% polyester sweatshirt is classified as man-made fiber.

If no single fiber wins, such as an exact 50/50 cotton and polyester blend, the rule is to take the heading or subheading that comes last in numerical order among the ones that fit equally. In apparel that usually means the man-made fiber line, which carries the higher rate.

On a $20,000 shipment, that is $3,300 in duty for cotton and $6,400 for polyester, before any Section 301 or other additional tariff. Fiber content is not a detail. It is the single biggest number on the entry.

Question 3: Men's or women's?

Note 9 to chapter 61 and note 9 to chapter 62 set the gender rule. Garments that close left over right at the front are men's or boys'. Garments that close right over left are women's or girls'. The rule does not apply when the cut clearly shows the garment is designed for one sex. Garments that cannot be identified as either, such as a pullover with no opening and a neutral cut, are classified as women's or girls'.

That last point surprises sellers of unisex lines. A "unisex" crewneck with no closure and a straight cut is entered as women's. Often the duty rate is the same at 8 digits and only the 10-digit suffix changes, but not always, so check both lines.

Babies' garments are a separate track. Chapter 61 note 6 defines them as garments for young children of a body height not over 86 cm, and heading 6111 (or 6209 for woven) takes priority over the general headings.

Heading by heading: the common garments

T-shirt or sweatshirt?

Heading 6109 has a narrow definition. Chapter 61 note 5 excludes garments with a drawstring, ribbed waistband or other tightening at the bottom. CBP's apparel guidance describes a T-shirt as a lightweight jersey or interlock garment with short hemmed sleeves and a hemmed bottom. A heavy fleece with ribbed cuffs and a ribbed waist band is a sweatshirt of heading 6110. A sweatshirt with a full-length front zip is a jacket, not a sweatshirt.

Sweaters and knit to shape

For statistics, chapter 61 statistical note 3 treats a garment as a "sweater" if its outer surface has 9 or fewer stitches per 2 centimeters, counted in the direction the stitches were formed. Finer knits fall under other suffixes. Statistical note 6 covers "knit to shape" garments made on flat-knitting machines with more than 9 and up to 18 stitches per 2 cm, with every component knit to shape and assembled by looping or linking. These rules change the 10-digit suffix, not the duty rate, but the suffix still has to be right on the entry.

Woven shirts and blouses

Woven shirts split further by fabric details such as yarn-dyed fabric (two or more colors in the warp or filling, like a check or a stripe), corduroy, and whether the shirt is a dress shirt. Here are two cotton examples:

Bottoms

Jeans are woven cotton trousers. Knit joggers and leggings go to chapter 61. Shorts sit in the same headings as trousers, with their own suffixes.

The numbers in parentheses

Every apparel line ends with a three-digit number in parentheses, such as (338) or (639). Section XI statistical note 3 explains that these are textile category numbers. The U.S. uses them to monitor shipments and to run textile programs under trade agreements. They do not change the duty. As a rough pattern, categories in the 300s are cotton and the 600s are man-made fiber, which is a quick way to spot a fiber mistake on a spreadsheet of SKUs.

What must be on the invoice

19 CFR 141.89 lists extra invoice details for textile goods. For apparel CBP expects:

• Fiber content by weight for the whole garment.
• Fiber content of the outer shell, excluding linings, cuffs, waistband, collar and trim, and of the lining separately.
• A breakdown for each component of a garment made of different fabrics.
• For woven garments, whether the fabric is yarn-dyed.
• For all-white T-shirts, whether they have pockets, trim or embroidery.

Fiber-content labels sewn into the garment are a different law. The Textile Fiber Products Identification Act, enforced by the Federal Trade Commission, requires generic fiber names with percentages, the country of origin and the maker's name or RN number. A label that passes the FTC rules does not make your HTS code correct, and a correct HTS code does not make your label legal.

Extra duties on top of the base rate

The general rates in the code cards above are only the first layer. As of October 2026, most apparel from China also pays Section 301 duties, and apparel from most countries pays the Section 301 forced-labor tariff that took effect July 24, 2026, at 10% or 12.5% depending on origin. Trade agreements can cut the base rate to zero, but the yarn-forward origin rules for apparel are strict. Check the full landed cost for each origin before you price a collection.

A worked example

A brand imports a women's crewneck pullover. The spec sheet says 55% cotton, 45% acrylic, jersey knit, 280 g per square meter, ribbed cuffs and waistband, no opening, fitted cut.

1. Jersey knit, so chapter 61.
2. Ribbed waistband rules out T-shirts under note 5. It is a pullover of heading 6110.
3. Cotton predominates by weight over acrylic, so subheading 6110.20, of cotton.
4. No opening, but the cut is fitted and designed for women, so women's.
5. Check the stitch count to choose between the sweater suffix and the other suffixes under the women's branch.

If the factory later swaps to 45% cotton and 55% acrylic to cut cost, the same garment moves to 6110.30, of man-made fibers, and the general rate goes from 16.5% to 32%. Put fiber percentages in your purchase order and recheck classification whenever a supplier changes yarn.

HTSBase's classifier asks for fabric construction, fiber percentages and gender when they are missing, and shows the chapter notes it applied. You can also browse chapters 61 and 62 directly.