Australia Import Duty on Custom Sportswear from China: 5%, or 0% Under ChAFTA

Australian import duty on custom sportswear made in China is 5% under the general rate, and 0% under ChAFTA if the shipment travels with a valid declaration of origin. The China–Australia Free Trade Agreement reached full tariff elimination on Chinese-origin goods on 1 January 2019, so the correct answer for a properly documented teamwear order is zero duty. GST is 10% and is not waived. Australia values imports on an FOB basis, so international freight sits outside the duty calculation but inside the GST calculation. On a 100-jersey order worth USD 1,200 that is USD 60 of duty at the general rate, or nothing under ChAFTA, and USD 120 to USD 126 of GST depending on which applies. Consignments valued at AUD 1,000 or less generally clear without duty or charges collected at the border. Rates were verified against the ABF Customs Tariff Schedule 3, Chapter 61, on 10 August 2026.

The rate is 5%, and it should be 0%

Australia is the friendliest of the major markets for a China-sourced kit order, and the reason is ChAFTA. The general rate on the apparel lines that cover team kit is 5%, but Chinese-origin goods have attracted a zero rate since tariff elimination completed on 1 January 2019. That is not a discount you negotiate; it is the rate you are entitled to, provided the paperwork supports the claim.

The word that does the work is documented. Preference is not automatic. The shipment needs a valid declaration of origin or certificate of origin covering the goods, and your broker files the claim at clearance. Ask your supplier to issue it when you place the purchase order, not when the goods are already in the air. If the document is missing at clearance you pay the 5%, and recovering it afterwards means a refund application rather than a phone call — more work than the duty is usually worth on a small order.

Confirm the exact form and data elements with your customs broker or the Australian Border Force, because the requirement is procedural and we are not customs agents. What we can do is issue the document, and we will if you ask for it at order stage.

Australian duty rates and codes for team kit

The first six digits are identical worldwide; Australia adds two more. The lines below are the ones we verified in Schedule 3.

We list only the rates we checked and mark the rest for confirmation, because ChAFTA makes the general rate largely academic anyway: with the right paperwork every line in the table is zero. The number that actually determines your landed cost in Australia is the 10% GST.

GST is 10%, and this is where freight starts to matter

Australia values goods for duty on an FOB basis, which means international freight and insurance are not part of the customs value. That is a real advantage over the UK and the EU, where freight is dutiable on a CIF basis. But GST is calculated on the value of the taxable importation, a landed figure that does include the freight and insurance you paid to get the goods there.

So the two taxes behave differently on the same shipment. Choosing a cheaper freight option does not reduce your duty in Australia, because duty was never charged on freight. It does reduce your GST, by 10% of whatever you save. Compare that with the UK, where every USD 100 of freight carries USD 34.40 of duty and VAT: the Australian penalty on freight is USD 10 per USD 100. If you are deciding between air and sea, the tax consequences matter far less here than the calendar does.

If you are GST-registered, the 10% is normally recoverable as an input tax credit, so a registered Australian distributor importing properly documented Chinese-origin kit can land it at effectively zero tax and zero duty. That is the best treatment available in any of the five markets we track.

The AUD 1,000 threshold, and when it genuinely applies

Consignments with a customs value at or below AUD 1,000 generally attract no duty or charges at the border and clear on a self-assessed clearance. Above that value a full import declaration is required and both duty and GST are payable. Unlike Canada’s thresholds, which exclude commercial goods entirely, and the EU’s, which have been abolished, this one can genuinely apply to a small teamwear order.

At our ten-piece minimum a single-design jersey order will often sit below AUD 1,000, which means a first order or a mid-season top-up can clear without a formal declaration. A full squad order of 100 jerseys will not. Note that separate rules can require GST to be accounted for at the point of sale on low-value imported goods rather than at the border, so “no charges at the border” does not always mean no GST at all — confirm the position with the ATO or your broker before you assume it.

Worked example: 100 custom jerseys landed in Australia

Based on our published 100-piece price of USD 12 per fully sublimated soccer jersey. Freight is excluded from the goods value because it is quoted per order; remember that in Australia it would not be dutiable anyway, but it would be inside the GST base.

Two conclusions follow. A single missing declaration of origin costs USD 66 on this order — USD 60 of duty plus USD 6 of GST charged on it — which is why it is worth raising at purchase-order stage. And a GST-registered Australian importer with the paperwork in order lands a USD 12 jersey at USD 12. No other market we track allows that.

Australia against the other markets

The same 100-jersey order, USD 1,200 of goods, freight excluded throughout so the comparison is like for like.

Australia is the cheapest destination on this table by a wide margin, and the only one where the duty line can legitimately be zero. It is also the only one where the tax treatment is simple enough that a club treasurer can budget it without a broker.

Timeline from first enquiry to kit in Australia

End to end that is roughly six to seven weeks by courier and ten to twelve weeks by sea. Australian buyers have one scheduling problem the northern hemisphere does not: your season starts when Chinese factories are least available. A March or April first fixture means production falls close to Chinese New Year, when factories close for one to two weeks and run a backlog for two to three weeks afterwards. Order before the shutdown, not after it, and tell us your first-game date so we can work the schedule backwards.

What to have in place before the goods ship

• A declaration of origin from us, requested at purchase-order stage, if you want the 0% ChAFTA rate rather than the 5% general rate.
• An ABN if you are importing as a business, and GST registration if you intend to claim the input tax credit.
• A commercial invoice showing the tariff classification, unit value, Incoterm and country of origin.
• A packing list with carton count, gross and net weight and dimensions.
• The air waybill or bill of lading, issued by the carrier.
• Fibre content and care-label information, occasionally requested at clearance.
• No import licence is required for sportswear.

Unless a buyer asks otherwise we quote EXW, which is the lowest headline number and leaves export clearance, freight, Australian clearance, duty and GST to you. If this is your first import, ask us to requote DDP door-to-door to your Australian address instead — and specify that you want the ChAFTA declaration included either way.

Frequently asked questions

How much is import duty on clothing from China to Australia?

The general rate is 5% on the apparel lines that cover team kit, including 6114.30.00 for sublimated jerseys, 6109.90.00 for T-shirt style tops, 6103.43.00 for shorts and 6110.30.00 for warm-up tops. Under ChAFTA the rate on Chinese-origin goods is 0% with a valid declaration of origin, since tariff elimination completed on 1 January 2019. GST of 10% still applies. Verified against the ABF Customs Tariff Schedule 3, Chapter 61, on 10 August 2026.

Do I really pay no duty on Chinese sportswear under ChAFTA?

Yes, provided the claim is documented. ChAFTA reached full tariff elimination on Chinese-origin goods on 1 January 2019, so the correct rate on a properly documented teamwear shipment is zero. Preference is not automatic: the shipment needs a valid declaration of origin or certificate of origin and your broker must claim it at clearance. Without it you pay the 5% general rate and have to apply for a refund.

Is freight taxed when importing into Australia?

Not for duty, but yes for GST. Australia values goods for duty on an FOB basis, so international freight and insurance are outside the customs value. GST is charged on the value of the taxable importation, which does include freight and insurance. So every AUD 100 of freight costs you AUD 10 of GST in Australia, against the equivalent of AUD 34.40 of duty and VAT in the UK.

What is the AUD 1,000 import threshold?

Consignments with a customs value at or below AUD 1,000 generally attract no duty or charges collected at the border and clear on a self-assessed clearance. Above it, a full import declaration is required and both duty and GST are payable. At our ten-piece minimum a single-design order will often sit below the threshold; a full squad order of 100 jerseys will not. Separate rules can require GST on low-value imported goods to be accounted for at the point of sale, so confirm the position with the ATO or your broker.

What is the total landed cost of 100 custom jerseys in Australia?

USD 1,320.00 excluding freight under ChAFTA, or USD 13.20 per jersey, based on a USD 12 unit price, 0% duty and 10% GST. At the 5% general rate it is USD 1,386.00, or USD 13.86 per jersey. A GST-registered importer who recovers the tax lands the ChAFTA case at USD 12.00 per jersey.

Which country is cheapest to import custom sportswear into?

Of the five markets we track, Australia. Duty and tax together come to 10% of goods value under ChAFTA, against 15.5% at the Australian general rate, 23.9% in Canada, 33.3% in a 19% VAT EU member state, 34.4% in the UK, and 14.9% and upwards in the United States before Section 301 and IEEPA additional duties are stacked on.

When should an Australian club place its order?

Before Chinese New Year rather than after it. Factories close for one to two weeks and clear a backlog for a further two to three weeks, which lands squarely on a March or April season start in the southern hemisphere. Counting back six to seven weeks for a courier order or ten to twelve for sea freight, and then adding the shutdown, a pre-Christmas purchase order is comfortable and a February one is not.

Sources and review date

Australian duty rates, tariff classifications and the AUD 1,000 threshold on this page were verified on 10 August 2026 against the ABF Customs Tariff Schedule 3 Chapter 61, ABF low value import guidance, and DFAT guidance on ChAFTA tariff elimination. Comparison figures for other markets come from the UK Integrated Online Tariff, EU TARIC, the CBSA Customs Tariff 2026 and the USITC Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Lead times and unit prices are our own operational figures. Freight is deliberately not published: it depends on chargeable weight, destination and shipping date, and any figure posted here would be out of date within weeks. Tariff rates, preference rules and thresholds change, and nothing on this page is customs or tax advice — confirm with the ABF, the ATO or a licensed customs broker before relying on a landed-cost figure. Journalists and researchers are welcome to cite these figures; please cite the company as Eliian (Xiamen Eliian Industrial and Trading Co., Ltd.).

Where to go next

The full multi-market reference, with HS codes, duty rates and thresholds for five markets and a line-by-line Incoterms comparison, is our shipping cost and import duty guide. For per-piece pricing at 10, 30, 50 and 100 units before freight, see the custom team uniform cost and MOQ guide. Other markets are covered separately: UK, Canada, the EU and the United States. To weigh transit against cost, read air vs sea freight for teamwear, and for measurements before you order, our sportswear size chart.