China is the default source. In 2025 China supplied 88.3% of US vacuum-flask imports and 71.8% of iron and steel kitchenware imports (UN Comtrade).
Is China still the default source for kitchenware?
Yes. Kitchenware, meaning the cookware, tableware, cutlery, food storage and drinkware used to prepare, serve and store food, and the wider category of housewares (household articles for everyday domestic use), is a category in which China's lead over every alternative supplier remains wide. In 2025 China supplied 88.3% of US imports of vacuum flasks and food jars, 75.5% of ceramic tableware, 74.7% of plastic tableware and kitchenware and 71.8% of iron and steel kitchen articles, according to UN Comtrade.
| HS heading | Product | 2018 | 2024 | 2025 | Next supplier, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9617 | Vacuum flasks and food jars | 96.8% | 95.8% | 88.3% | Vietnam 4.7% |
| 6912 | Ceramic (non-porcelain) tableware | 81.8% | 80.8% | 75.5% | — |
| 3924 | Plastic tableware and kitchenware | 79.2% | 79.6% | 74.7% | Vietnam 5.8% |
| 8215 | Spoons, forks, ladles | 75.3% | 70.1% | 73.3% | Vietnam 12.2% |
| 7323 | Iron and steel kitchen articles | 80.9% | 81.8% | 71.8% | India 7.8% |
| 7615 | Aluminum household articles | 65.5% | 72.0% | 57.1% | Vietnam 10.9% |
| 8211 | Knives | 67.6% | 59.8% | 57.1% | Vietnam 8.0% |
| 7013 | Glassware | 57.0% | 61.3% | 55.7% | Mexico 10.2% |
| 6911 | Porcelain tableware | 61.8% | 54.9% | 49.9% | France 11.1% |
These are US-reported values on a CIF basis (cost, insurance and freight included); Census customs values run slightly lower, 2025 data are preliminary, and a heading-level share can hide large differences between products inside it. UN Comtrade is the United Nations database of national customs trade statistics.
World exports confirm the picture. Summed across reporting countries, which includes re-exports, China made 82.0% of world HS 9617 exports in 2023, 67.6% of HS 7323, 59.6% of HS 3924 and 45.9% of knives (HS 8211), where Germany was next at 11.2%.
Where kitchenware is made in China
Yangjiang, in western Guangdong, is the one cluster with published figures. According to People's Daily Online (22 January 2025), the city's knife and scissor industry passed RMB 55 billion in scale in 2024, accounts for 75% of China's knife and scissor output and 85% of its export volume, and has more than 2,000 hardware knife and scissor manufacturers and more than 8,500 related businesses. People's Daily Online is state media citing local data, not a primary statistical bulletin.
Other clusters are widely cited but were not confirmed in an official source for this page: Chaozhou and Jieyang for stainless steel, Yongkang in Zhejiang for vacuum cups and flasks, and Chaozhou, Dehua and Zibo for ceramics.
How kitchenware production is organized
"Kitchenware and housewares" covers very different factories, each with its own minimum-order logic and test regime:
- Stainless steel deep-drawing and cookware (HS 7323).
- Aluminum die-cast and pressed cookware (HS 7615).
- Plastic injection-molded storage and tableware (HS 3924).
- Ceramics (HS 6911 and 6912) and glass (HS 7013).
- Cutlery and knives (HS 8211 and 8215).
- Vacuum-insulated drinkware and food jars (HS 9617).
The minimum order quantity (MOQ, the smallest order a factory will accept) is set by the process: mold or tooling ownership for plastic and die-cast parts, a glaze or decal run for ceramics, a print or laser-logo setup for drinkware, and a color-batch minimum for powder-coated or silicone parts. Printed retail packaging often sets a separate, higher minimum. No authoritative published MOQ benchmark exists, so none is given here.
New tooling adds several weeks before samples. Food-contact testing, meaning migration tests for plastics and lead and cadmium leach tests for ceramics and enamel, belongs before mass production, not after. Pre-shipment inspection and ocean transit follow. No official lead-time benchmark exists.
FDA food-contact rules
Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates materials that touch food as food-contact substances. The routes to authorization are food additive regulations in 21 CFR Parts 174–186, Food Contact Notifications, GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status, prior sanction and threshold-of-regulation exemptions.
FDA does not approve or certify finished kitchenware, or the factories that make it. A supplier spec sheet reading "FDA approved" therefore proves nothing on its own. What an importer needs is evidence that each food-contact material meets one of those authorization routes, and the usual evidence is a third-party laboratory migration test to FDA methods.
- Ceramics and enamel. FDA Compliance Policy Guides 545.450 (lead) and 545.400 (cadmium) set leaching limits for ceramicware. The exact values were not re-fetched for this page.
- Facility registration. Food-contact article makers are generally understood not to register as food facilities the way food manufacturers do, but FDA's food-facility registration guidance (21 CFR 1.226) was not checked for this page, so confirm it.
- Retailer and state requirements. Retailers often also require California Proposition 65 testing for lead and other listed chemicals, and some states restrict PFAS in non-stick coatings. Those rules and dates were not re-verified here.
Antidumping and countervailing duty orders
Antidumping (AD) duties offset imports sold below fair value; countervailing duties (CVD) offset foreign subsidies. Several orders cover Chinese kitchen and household goods.
| Product from China | Status | Federal Register |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen appliance shelving and racks | AD and CVD orders continued, applicable 1 Apr 2026 | 91 FR 18818 |
| Drawn stainless steel sinks | CVD sunset results corrected 6 Oct 2026 (all-others rate had been misstated) | 91 FR 63523 |
| Disposable aluminum containers, pans, trays and lids | AD and CVD orders issued 8 May 2025 | 90 FR 19467 |
| Paper plates | AD (also Thailand, Vietnam) and CVD (also Vietnam) orders issued 20 Mar 2025 | 90 FR 13139; 90 FR 13135 |
Moving final processing out of China does not escape these orders. Commerce preliminarily found that aluminum containers completed in Vietnam from Chinese foil circumvent the China orders (91 FR 20977, applicable 20 April 2026), and that paper plates completed in Cambodia from Chinese paperboard do the same (91 FR 42709, applicable 10 July 2026). No AD order on Chinese ceramic tableware turned up in a Federal Register search on 30 October 2026.
Tariff exposure as of October 2026
The duty on Chinese kitchenware depends on the HTS line. As of October 2026, the stack is the MFN rate, plus the 2018 Section 301 list duty that applies to the line (25% on Lists 1–3, 7.5% on List 4A), plus the 12.5% forced-labor Section 301 duty in effect since 24 July 2026, plus any AD/CVD duty. Line-by-line Section 301 list placement for the headings on this page was not confirmed.
Two points complicate it. First, some steel and aluminum household articles may be Section 232 derivatives; that was not confirmed for headings 7323, 7615, 8211, 8215 or 9617. An article under Section 232 is excluded from the forced-labor duty and pays the Section 232 rate instead. Second, a vacuum bottle has its own heading (9617), and classifying it as a steel article (7323) changes the duty, the list placement and possibly the Section 232 status.
The IEEPA tariffs ended when the Supreme Court decided Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump on 20 February 2026, and a 10% Section 122 surcharge applied from 24 February to 24 July 2026. A licensed customs broker should confirm the classification before a landed cost is quoted.
Where production is shifting
China lost share across most headings in 2025: 7323 fell from 81.8% to 71.8% and 7615 from 72.0% to 57.1%. US imports of HS 7323 from China fell from US$3.51 billion in 2024 to US$2.00 billion in 2025, and HS 9617 from US$1.70 billion to US$1.30 billion. Total US imports in these headings also fell, so part of the drop reflects demand and inventory rather than relocation.
Vietnam is the main gainer, but from a small base: in 2025 it reached 10.9% of US aluminum household articles and 6.1% of steel kitchenware, against China's 57.1% and 71.8%. India (7.8% of 7323) and Thailand (4.6% of 9617) are the other notable suppliers.
Common mistakes and how to evaluate a supplier
- Accepting "FDA approved" as proof. FDA does not approve finished kitchenware; ask for migration test reports on each food-contact material.
- Testing the sample, not production. Glaze, coating and resin can change between the approved sample and bulk, so test from production lots.
- Assuming a Vietnam or Cambodia finishing step ends AD/CVD exposure. The 2026 circumvention findings show otherwise.
- Misclassifying the product, such as a vacuum flask entered as a steel article.
In evaluating a kitchenware factory, confirm that its process matches the product (a deep-drawing plant is not a die-caster), who owns the molds, which resin, glaze or coating suppliers it uses and whether they can be fixed in the contract, and whether recent third-party food-contact test reports exist for the same material and color.
Frequently asked questions
Where are most kitchen knives made in China?
Most are made in Yangjiang, Guangdong. According to People's Daily Online in January 2025, citing 2024 local data, Yangjiang accounts for 75% of China's knife and scissor output and 85% of its export volume, with more than 2,000 knife and scissor manufacturers. The figures come from state media rather than a primary statistical bulletin.
How dominant is China in insulated tumblers and food jars?
Very dominant. China supplied 88.3% of US imports of vacuum flasks and vacuum food jars (HS 9617) in 2025, down from 95.8% in 2024, according to UN Comtrade. It made 82.0% of reported world exports in that heading in 2023. Vietnam (4.7%) and Thailand (4.6%) were the next US suppliers in 2025.
Is Chinese kitchenware FDA approved?
No kitchenware is FDA approved, because FDA does not approve finished kitchenware or certify factories. FDA regulates the materials that touch food, under 21 CFR Parts 174–186 and other authorization routes. Importers show compliance with third-party migration test reports for each food-contact material, taken from production lots rather than samples.
Are there anti-dumping duties on Chinese kitchenware?
Yes, for specific products. AD/CVD orders cover kitchen appliance shelving and racks, drawn stainless steel sinks, disposable aluminum containers and paper plates from China. In 2026 Commerce preliminarily found circumvention through Vietnam (aluminum containers) and Cambodia (paper plates). No AD order on Chinese ceramic tableware was found in an October 2026 Federal Register search.
Is Vietnam a real alternative for cookware?
It is growing, but from a small base. In 2025 Vietnam supplied 10.9% of US imports of aluminum household articles (HS 7615) and 6.1% of iron and steel kitchenware (HS 7323), against China's 57.1% and 71.8%, according to UN Comtrade. No alternative supplier is near China's scale in any core kitchenware heading.
What tariff applies to Chinese kitchenware?
It depends on the HTS line. As of October 2026, add the MFN rate, the 2018 Section 301 list duty for that line, the 12.5% forced-labor Section 301 duty in effect since 24 July 2026, and any AD/CVD duty. If the article is a Section 232 steel or aluminum derivative, it pays the 232 rate instead of the forced-labor duty.
Sources
- United Nations Statistics Division (UN Comtrade) — UN Comtrade database, US-reported imports by HS heading, 2018-2025
- comtradeapi.un.org/public/v1/preview/C/A/HS?period=2023&partnerCode=0&cmdCod…
- en.people.cn/n3/2025/0122/c90000-20269164.html
- ecfr.gov/current/title-21/chapter-I/subchapter-B
- federalregister.gov/documents/2025/05/08/2025-08089
- federalregister.gov/documents/2026/04/20/2026-07659
- federalregister.gov/documents/2026/04/13/2026-07107
- taxnews.ey.com/news/2026-1607-ustr-finalizes-section-301-forced-labor-tariff…