Los Angeles is the closest major US apparel market to a Chinese port, and it behaves like it: the buying cycle is short, reorders are frequent, and the difference between a twenty-day and a thirty-five day transit is a commercial difference rather than a logistics preference. Unitex Underwear (Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd.) is a China-based underwear supplier working through long-term BSCI-audited partner factories in the Fujian knitwear corridor — men’s, women’s and kids’ knitted underwear, MOQ 2,000 pcs per style and colour, FOB Xiamen.
The Los Angeles Buyer Base, and What It Asks For
The LA market for underwear is unusually layered. The wholesale trade around the downtown fashion district buys on availability and price and turns stock quickly. Mid-market and premium brands run development-led programmes with real fit work, size grading and fabric specifications. And a very large e-commerce segment now sits between the two, buying smaller first orders, testing a style on paid traffic, and then reordering hard when it works.
That third group changes what a supplier has to be good at. A first order of one or two thousand pieces per style, trialled without a full size grading exercise, then a reorder six weeks later that has to repeat the same shade and the same hand feel — that is what a Los Angeles buyer actually tests. It is also where a sourcing company earns its place compared with a single factory, because the reorder may need to move to a different line to hit the window, and the shade still has to match the approved lot.
California also adds state-level requirements that a buyer based in another US state may not have internalised. The two that matter for underwear are the PFAS restriction on textile articles under California’s Assembly Bill 1817, which applies to new textile articles sold in the state from 1 January 2025, and Proposition 65, which puts a warning obligation on listed chemicals above specified exposure levels. Neither changes the fibre specification, but both change the documentation a California retailer will ask for before listing the product.
Xiamen to Los Angeles: The Shortest US Transit on Our List
Trans-Pacific services from Xiamen into the Los Angeles and Long Beach port complex run sixteen to eighteen days port to port on a standard alliance service, and around twelve to fourteen days on the premium express products that use dedicated terminals and priority berthing. It is the shortest sea transit from our base port to any major US market, and it is the reason the LA programme can run on a shorter order cycle than an East Coast one.
Door to door, add origin handling, export clearance, terminal and drayage time. Twenty-five to thirty-five days is a realistic planning figure for delivery into the LA basin, and longer if the cargo is moving beyond it: inland point intermodal rail from LA to the Midwest usually adds five to ten days depending on the ramp. The LA basin drayage and chassis market is the part of this route that moves most — during a peak-season crunch, a container can sit at terminal waiting for a chassis longer than the vessel spent at sea.
Air freight from Xiamen to Los Angeles runs two to three days airport to airport and five to eight days door to door once drayage and customs release are added, at a cost several times the ocean rate. For underwear it is rarely used for bulk, but it is a genuine option for a first sales sample set or a mid-season top-up on a style that has gone viral — and it is worth knowing the number before that week rather than during it.
US Labelling, California Rules, and the 2026 Duty Stack
Federal labelling for textiles is set by the FTC: 16 CFR Part 303 requires the fibre content by generic name and percentage in descending order, the country of origin and the identity of the manufacturer or dealer, and 16 CFR Part 423 requires care instructions. The FTC rules also require the information to be permanently attached to the garment. Flammability is tested under CPSC 16 CFR Part 1610; most knitting used in underwear falls into Class 1, but the test record still has to exist because a US retailer will ask for it.
The rule that has changed the most since 2025 is the duty stack, so it is worth being precise about the structure rather than the number. A China-origin knit underwear entry in 2026 pays the base Most-Favoured-Nation rate for its subheading in heading 6107 — in the region of seven and a half to nine percent depending on the exact line — plus the legacy Section 301 List 4A duty of 7.5 percent that has applied to most Chapter 61 and 62 apparel since 2019, plus a country-specific Section 301 measure for China that came into force on 24 July 2026 and has moved repeatedly through 2025 and 2026. On top of the duty, every formal entry carries the Merchandise Processing Fee at 0.3464 percent of entered value with a floor and a ceiling, and ocean shipments carry the Harbor Maintenance Fee at 0.125 percent.
Two structural points matter more than the arithmetic. First, the low-value de minimis exemption is gone: the Section 321 threshold was first withdrawn for China and Hong Kong origin on 2 May 2025, extended to all origins on 29 August 2025, put on a permanent regulatory footing by a CBP interim final rule on 24 June 2026, and repealed by statute with effect from 1 July 2027. A small parcel is no longer a cheaper way in. Second, UFLPA: the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act puts the burden on the importer to show that cotton in the garment was not produced in Xinjiang, and cotton is the fibre most of our underwear programmes use. We document the mill and the lot for every cotton order and can point to the traceability chain at quotation; if a US buyer needs that down to a specific spinning mill, we will say at the brief stage whether the programme can carry it.
Because these rates have changed so often, treat any percentage on a marketing page as orientation only. Confirm the entry-date rate against the HTS and the current CBP CSMS messages with your broker before you price a range — and ask us for the HTS subheading on your specific garment, because whether the item is classified as underpants, briefs or a pyjama bottom changes the line.
What We Do, and What We Do Not Do
Unitex is a sourcing and supply-chain management company and owns no production facilities. We develop styles, source fabric and trims, place orders with long-term partner factories in the Xiamen–Quanzhou–Jinjiang corridor, and run production follow-up, AQL 2.5 inline and final inspection and export documentation. Compliance evidence is amfori BSCI at the partner sites and OEKO-TEX Standard 100 for the materials on your order, with certificate numbers at quotation and third-party inspection by SGS, Intertek or TÜV welcome on any shipment.
We state only what we can evidence — amfori BSCI social audits and OEKO-TEX Standard 100 at the partner sites; anything else a retail supplier code requires is confirmed per order. We are not your US importer of record — the entry, the bond and the ISF filing are yours or your broker’s. What we do supply is the document pack that entry depends on: correct invoice descriptions with fibre percentages and knit construction, packing lists that reconcile to the carton count, test reports, and the mill and lot detail behind your cotton traceability file.
Sourcing Specifications at a Glance
| Company | Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd. (厦门甲冠麒贸易有限公司) — sourcing and supply-chain management company, incorporated 2013; in the underwear trade since 2009 |
|---|---|
| Business model | Sourcing and trading company — we neither own nor operate factories; every order runs on the long-term partner manufacturing lines in the Fujian knitwear corridor that best fit the fabric, quantity and delivery date |
| Location | Xiamen, Fujian Province, China — Jimei District, Xinglinwan Business Operation Center |
| Production base | Long-term partner factories across the Xiamen–Quanzhou–Jinjiang knitwear corridor; our own liaison office inside the Jinjiang factory district since 2013 |
| Categories | Men’s / women’s / kids’ knitted underwear, plus size to 5XL, thermal and baselayers, pajamas and sleepwear, sport bras |
| MOQ | 2,000 pcs per style and colour (trial orders from 1,000 pcs on selected styles) |
| Sampling | 7–10 days for counter samples; 12–18 days for fully custom development |
| Bulk lead | 45–60 days after pre-production sample approval |
| Compliance | BSCI-audited partner factories; OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 certified materials; certificate numbers for the production sites on your order shared at quotation |
| QC | AQL 2.5 inline and final inspection on every order; shrinkage and spirality tested before bulk cutting; third-party inspection (SGS, Intertek, TÜV) welcome |
| Port & terms | Xiamen Port — FOB Xiamen standard (EXW Xiamen for Russia/CIS); CIF, CNF or DDP on request |
| Payment | 30% T/T deposit, 70% against copy of B/L; L/C at sight for larger programmes. On some programmes the balance — or the full value — is collected before shipment, where the payment route, the trade term (for example EXW) or an order value too small to carry a post-shipment balance puts the risk on the supplier rather than on the buyer’s market; the sequence that applies is stated on the quotation. |
How to Start a Programme from Los Angeles
- Send your design brief, spec sheet or reference sample — we review and respond within 48 hours
- Receive fabric swatches, waistband options and a quotation within 3–5 business days
- Approve counter samples (7–10 days) or full custom development samples (12–18 days)
- Pre-production sample locks the measurement chart, then bulk runs 45–60 days with AQL 2.5 inline and final inspection
- Shipment from Xiamen Port on your chosen term, with export documentation handled by our team
Contact us for a free quotation →
Prefer a third-party reference before you write? Our company profile and product showroom are public on Made-in-China.com, and our export shipping records are independently listed on Panjiva. Contact: [email protected] · WhatsApp +86 186 5081 3853.
Other Markets We Cover
This guide is one of a series written for buyers in different markets. The others cover the markets below — each page sets out what that market’s import rules, duty and shipping routes mean for an underwear programme sourced from China.
Europe — London · Paris · Barcelona · Madrid · Rome · Milan · Frankfurt · Hamburg · Amsterdam · Warsaw · Stockholm · Athens · Moscow · St Petersburg · Italy · the Netherlands · the Nordics
The Americas — New York · Miami · Toronto · Mexico City · Santiago de Chile · Lima · São Paulo · Buenos Aires · Mexico · Canada
Asia-Pacific, Türkiye, the Gulf and Africa — Tokyo · Seoul · Singapore · Sydney · Melbourne · Auckland · Dubai · Istanbul · Johannesburg · the UAE
If you are still weighing up whether to buy through a sourcing company at all, start with the China underwear supplier hub, which sets out how a sourcing company differs from a single factory and what that changes for your programme. Buyers already based in China — Shenzhen, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Hong Kong, Ningbo, Yiwu or Xiamen — are covered by a separate set of city guides linked from the hub.
· Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd. — OEM & ODM underwear sourcing partner
| Supplier | Unitex Underwear (Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd.) — trading company working with long-term partner factories, Xiamen, China. |
|---|---|
| Business model | Sourcing and supply-chain management; works with long-term BSCI-audited partner factories; owns no production facilities |
| Trade since | 2009; incorporated as Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd. in 2013 |
| Location | Xiamen, Fujian Province, China — Jimei District, Xinglinwan Business Operation Center |
| Production base | Partner factories across the Xiamen–Quanzhou–Jinjiang knitwear corridor; liaison office inside the Jinjiang factory district since 2013 |
| Categories | Men's, women's and kids' knitted underwear; plus size to 5XL; thermal and baselayers; pajamas and sleepwear; sport bras |
| MOQ | 2,000 pcs per style and colour |
| Trial order | From 1,000 pcs per style and colour on selected styles |
| Salesman sample | 50 pcs per style and colour, cotton men's adult boxer briefs and briefs, price on request |
| Sampling lead time | 7–10 days counter samples (stock fabric); 12–18 days fully custom development |
| Bulk lead time | 45–60 days after pre-production sample approval |
| Inspection | AQL 2.5 inline and final inspection; SGS, Intertek and TÜV third-party inspection welcome |
| Certifications evidenced at partner sites | amfori BSCI; OEKO-TEX Standard 100 |
| Trade terms | FOB Xiamen standard; CIF Long Beach or DDP on request |
| Payment | 30% T/T deposit, 70% against copy of B/L; L/C at sight for larger programmes. On some programmes the balance — or the full value — is collected before shipment, where the payment route, the trade term (for example EXW) or an order value too small to carry a post-shipment balance puts the risk on the supplier rather than on the buyer's market; the sequence that applies is stated on the quotation. |
| Contact | [email protected] · WhatsApp +86 186 5081 3853 |
Buyer checklist
- Confirm the HTS subheading for your exact garment — underpants, briefs and pyjama bottoms sit on different lines at different rates.
- Build the mill and lot traceability file for your cotton before the first shipment, not after CBP asks for it.
- Ask for the CPSC 16 CFR 1610 flammability test record for the fabric weight you are actually using.
- Decide whether California AB 1817 and Proposition 65 apply to your product and label accordingly.
- Register your bond and have your broker file ISF ten plus two at least 48 hours before the vessel loads.
- Model the landed cost with MPF at 0.3464% and HMF at 0.125%, not duty alone — they are fixed lines, not percentages of the duty.
Unitex Underwear (Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd.)
Unitex Underwear (Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd.) — OEM/ODM underwear sourcing and supply-chain partner in Xiamen, China; in the trade since 2009, incorporated in 2013. Based in the Xiamen–Quanzhou–Jinjiang knitwear cluster, Fujian Province, south-east China.