Contract manufacturers in China: what to check before you order

What China still makes at scale

For bags, clothing, furniture and toys, China's exports remain very large, even as they shrink. China's statistics bureau reports 1,082.2 billion yuan of clothes and clothing accessories exported in 2025, down 4.4 percent from 2024^[1], 455.9 billion yuan of furniture and parts exported in 2025, down 5.6 percent from 2024^[1], 249.3 billion yuan of toys exported in 2025, down 12.1 percent from 2024^[1] and 214.0 billion yuan of luggage and similar containers exported in 2025, down 12.9 percent from 2024^[1].

Trade with the US is falling faster. US goods imports from China were $308.7 billion in 2025, down 29.9 percent from 2024^[2], and imports for the first part of this year came to $156.4 billion in January to July 2026^[3]. Falling totals do not change the question that matters for one order: whether a factory already makes something close to your item, with materials it can source nearby.

The US rules aimed at China

Two sets of US rules weigh most heavily on a Chinese order. Both fall on the importer of record, which is usually the brand.

Forced labor. Under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, CBP applies a rebuttable presumption that goods made wholly or in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), or by an entity on the UFLPA Entity List, are prohibited from U.S. importation^[4]. The UFLPA Entity List now has 187 entities, after 43 companies were added effective August 3, 2026^[5], and DHS reports more than 24,300 shipments, valued at nearly $1 billion, denied entry since the UFLPA was enacted^[5]. The presumption follows the inputs, not the assembly, so a garment sewn far from Xinjiang can still be caught through its cotton. The enforcement strategy names these high-priority sectors: aluminum, apparel, cotton and cotton products, polyvinyl chloride, seafood, silica-based products, and tomatoes and downstream products, with caustic soda, copper, jujubes, lithium and steel added in 2025^[6]. If your product is apparel, home textiles or anything made from cotton, ask for the fiber and fabric to be traced back to their source before you sample.

Section 301 duties. Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods are organized as four product lists (List 1 to List 4) under the China Section 301 action, with a separate exclusion process^[7]. The tariff schedule currently shows these List duties for products of China:

• Products of China in the subheadings listed in U.S. note 20(b) to chapter 99: the subheading's duty plus 25% (heading 9903.88.01), apart from the headings it excepts^[8]
• Products of China in the subheadings listed in U.S. note 20(d) to chapter 99: the subheading's duty plus 25% (heading 9903.88.02), apart from the headings it excepts^[9]
• Products of China in the subheadings listed in U.S. note 20(f) to chapter 99: the subheading's duty plus 25% (heading 9903.88.03), apart from the headings it excepts^[10]
• Products of China in the subheadings listed in U.S. note 20(s) to chapter 99: the subheading's duty plus 7.5% (heading 9903.88.15), apart from the headings it excepts^[11]

It also carries a line that applies to products of China generally, outside the four lists:

• Products of China: the subheading's duty plus 12.5% (heading 9903.05.31), apart from products in headings 9903.05.85 to 9903.05.92^[12]

Which lines apply depends on your product's HTS code, so classify the product before you compare a Chinese quote with any other. The action is also under review, in the second statutory four-year review of the China Section 301 actions, begun in 2026^[13]. The general China line comes from a newer action. USTR ran Section 301 investigations of 60 economies, opened on March 12, 2026, related to the failure to impose and effectively enforce a ban on imports of goods produced with forced labor^[14]. The findings put China among 54 economies that USTR found have failed to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor^[15], and the investigations ended in a July 28, 2026 notice of actions in all 60 investigations, imposing tariffs on all products of each investigated economy, with certain exemptions^[15]. That notice also added a new U.S. note 52 to chapter 99, under which headings 9903.05.20 to 9903.05.84 impose additional duties on all products of the countries they cover^[15], the range that includes the general China line above. Check the current rates on the day you place an order, not on the day you first got a quote.

How to check a contract manufacturer in China

1. Get the business license. Every Chinese company has a unified social credit code of 18 characters^[16], issued when a company registers and marked on its registration certificate or license^[16]. Ask for a photo of the license and note the code and the registered name.
2. Look the company up. China runs the enterprise credit information publicity system, where regulators publish each company's registration and filing information^[17]. Check that the registered name, address and business scope match the factory you have been talking to. A registered scope limited to trading suggests you are dealing with a trading company, which is fine if you know it.
3. Match the paperwork to the payee. The company on the license, the pro forma invoice and the bank account should be the same. A different payee is a question to answer before any deposit.
4. Protect your brand first. China has a first-to-file trademark registration system^[18], and the US government notes that registration of rights in the U.S. does not automatically confer rights in China^[18]. File in China before any factory sees your artwork.
5. Trace the inputs. For cotton, PVC, aluminum or any other priority-sector material, ask for the supplier of each main input and the input's origin. You need this before an order ships, not after a detention.

Factory audits in China

A factory audit checks whether the plant, equipment and staff match what you were told, and a social compliance audit checks working hours, wages and safety. For a Chinese order, add a supply chain review to either one: the audit is the moment to see the fabric and material purchase records that UFLPA documentation depends on. For a small first order, a pre-shipment inspection of the finished goods may be enough, with a full audit before you scale.

Plan around the Spring Festival

Chinese factories close for the Lunar New Year. The public holiday was 9 days, from February 15 to 23, 2026^[19]. Ask for the factory's own closing and reopening dates, which can be longer than the public holiday, and place orders that must ship early in the year well before it.

Getting quotes from China

Send us your specification, and we introduce you to manufacturers in China that fit it, each one named, or tell you if none does. Note any cotton, PVC or aluminum content in your request, so the input question comes up before the quote rather than after it. The manufacturers quote you directly; ask each one to state its shipping terms, so you can compare the quote on a landed basis with quotes from Vietnam, India or Mexico.