Knit vs Woven: How Fabric Construction Moves Apparel Between HTS Chapters 61 and 62

Knit vs woven is the first fork in apparel classification. A garment made up of knitted or crocheted fabric goes to Chapter 61 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule; a garment made up of any other textile fabric, which in practice means woven, goes to Chapter 62. The two chapters mirror each other heading by heading, but the rates underneath do not, and the gap runs in both directions depending on the garment and the fiber.

For apparel, technical apparel and e-commerce importers, that makes fabric construction a cost decision, not only a product decision. The same women’s blouse in man-made fiber carries a 32% MFN rate as a knit and 26.9% as a woven. Women’s cotton trousers reverse the order: 14.9% as a knit and 16.6% as a woven. This piece covers how CBP tells the two apart, where the headings split, what the totals look like for China and Vietnam as of October 27, 2026, and how to lock in a classification on a borderline fabric.

The Construction Test: How CBP Decides Knit vs Woven

The legal test sits in the chapter notes, and it is about how the fabric was made, not how the garment looks. Chapter 61 note 1 says the chapter applies only to made up knitted or crocheted articles. Chapter 62 note 1 says that chapter applies to made up articles of any textile fabric other than wadding, excluding knitted or crocheted articles, with an exception for the bras and similar goods of heading 6212, which sit in Chapter 62 whatever the fabric.

Knitting builds fabric from interlocking loops of yarn; weaving interlaces two sets of yarns, warp and weft, at right angles. A stretch woven with spandex can feel like a knit, and a tightly knit double-face fabric can look like a twill, so the hand of the fabric proves nothing. What settles the question is a fabric analysis of the construction, and that is the document an importer should hold before the first entry, not after a CBP request for information.

A garment combining knit and woven components, such as a knit body with woven sleeves or a woven shell with a knit lining, is not decided by the chapter notes alone. Classification then runs through the General Rules of Interpretation, and the component that gives the garment its essential character usually drives the chapter. Those are the files where a written ruling earns its cost.

Chapter 61 vs Chapter 62 Headings and Why the Duty Differs

The headings run in parallel: 6103 and 6203 for men’s suits, trousers and shorts, 6104 and 6204 for women’s, 6105 and 6205 for men’s shirts, 6106 and 6206 for women’s blouses. Some headings exist only on one side. T-shirts and tank tops in 6109 and sweaters and pullovers in 6110 are knit-only headings, so a woven tee-style top has no 6109 equivalent and is classified as a woven shirt, blouse or other garment in Chapter 62.

The knit side carries extra tests. Chapter 61 note 4 excludes from 6105 and 6106 any garment with pockets below the waist, a ribbed waistband or other tightening at the bottom, or an average of fewer than 10 stitches per linear centimeter in each direction over a 10 cm by 10 cm area. A coarse-gauge knit top therefore falls out of the shirt and blouse headings altogether and has to be classified elsewhere in Chapter 61. Note 5 similarly excludes from 6109 any garment with a drawstring or ribbed waistband at the bottom.

The woven side has its own carve-out that technical apparel importers use. Chapter 62 additional U.S. note 3 defines recreational performance outerwear: trousers, jackets, coveralls, windbreakers and similar articles that are water resistant or plastics-treated, have critically sealed seams and show five or more listed features. Those goods have separate subheadings in Chapter 62, and there is no equivalent provision in Chapter 61. Note 3(c) requires the importer to keep records showing each feature that qualifies the garment, so the tech pack and test data become entry documents.

Rates differ because each subheading carries its own negotiated MFN rate, set fiber by fiber and garment by garment. There is no rule that knits pay more or wovens pay more. Men’s cotton shirts are 19.7% in both 6105.10.00 and 6205.20.20, while women’s cotton blouses are 19.7% as a knit and 15.4% as a woven, and women’s cotton trousers are 14.9% knit and 16.6% woven. The broader rate picture across apparel and footwear is in our analysis of apparel and footwear duties.

Side-by-Side HTS Examples With MFN, List 4A and Forced-Labor Totals

The table pairs knit and woven lines for the same garment and fiber. China origin adds the 7.5% Section 301 List 4A duty under heading 9903.88.15, which covers all eight of these subheadings in full, plus the 12.5% Section 301 forced-labor duty that took effect on July 24, 2026. Vietnam origin adds the 12.5% forced-labor duty only. The mechanics of that action are in our guide to Section 301 forced labor tariffs.

What the Table Leaves Out

Totals are ad valorem on customs value. AD/CVD orders and Section 301 product exclusions are not included, and the woven trouser lines shown are the non-outerwear, non-overall subheadings. To run a specific style, use the China to US tariff calculator or the Vietnam equivalent with the 10-digit code from the entry.

Lab Reports and Binding Rulings for Borderline Fabrics

Borderline cases cluster in a few places: stretch wovens with high elastane content, warp knits that resemble woven fabric, bonded or laminated shells where the face fabric and the backing differ in construction, and technical outerwear where the knit or woven question decides whether recreational performance outerwear treatment is even available. In each, the supplier’s description on the commercial invoice is the weakest evidence in the file.

A fabric analysis from a textile lab that identifies the construction, fiber content by weight and, for knits, the stitch count is the baseline. It answers the Chapter 61 note 4 stitch test directly and supports the fiber breakdown that decides the subheading inside each chapter.

Where the answer is genuinely arguable, a prospective binding ruling converts an opinion into a position. Classification requests go in letter form to the Director, National Commodity Specialist Division in New York under 19 CFR 177.2(a). For an article of two or more materials, the request should state the relative quantity by weight and by volume and the value of each, and under 177.2(b)(3) it should include photographs and, whenever possible, a sample, plus any lab analysis prepared by or for the manufacturer. The sample may be damaged or consumed in testing.

The ruling protects only what it describes. Under 19 CFR 177.9(b)(2) a classification ruling applies to articles identical to the sample or to the description in the ruling. A mill switch, a new elastane percentage or a change from circular knit to warp knit is a different article, and the ruling no longer covers it.

What Knit vs Woven Does to a Sourcing Cost Sheet

On $100,000 of customs value, women’s man-made fiber blouses from China pay $52,000 in duty as a knit and $46,900 as a woven, a $5,100 difference before freight, brokerage or margin. Switch the fiber to cotton and the gap narrows but holds: the knit pays $39,700 and the woven $35,400. The advantage only flips on trousers, where women’s cotton knit trousers pay $34,900 and the woven version $36,600. The same cost sheet moved to Vietnam drops both options by the 7.5-point List 4A difference but keeps the knit vs woven gap intact, because the gap comes from the MFN rate.

That is why the construction decision belongs in the design brief rather than the post-entry audit. A change in fabric made for cost reasons is legitimate tariff engineering when the product really changes and the documentation shows it; relabeling a knit as a woven on the invoice is misclassification. Duty is only one line, and the full comparison should run through landed cost, including freight weight differences between the two fabrics.

For importers moving several fabric programs a season, the practical sequence is the one our retail and consumer goods logistics team runs: fabric analysis at sampling, classification confirmed against the chapter notes, a ruling request where the construction is arguable, and the duty rate written into the cost sheet before the purchase order is issued.

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