UK brands are adding Vietnam alongside China in 2026 to reduce tariff risk, capture UKVFTA duty savings, and build more resilient supply chains. Here's what you need to know.
In summary: China-Plus-One is a supply chain strategy where brands source primarily from China while adding a second manufacturing country — most commonly Vietnam — as a production partner. UK businesses are adopting this approach in 2026 to reduce tariff exposure, spread production risk, and tap into Vietnam's fast-growing manufacturing capabilities in textiles, footwear, furniture, and electronics accessories. It's not about replacing China. It's about building resilience.
Cast your mind back to early 2020. Supply chains grinding to a halt. Ports backed up. Factory floors going dark. If your entire product range was manufactured in a single country, you were having a very bad time indeed.
And then came the tariff tensions. The geopolitical uncertainty. The shipping container crisis. The post-pandemic factory rush. If the pandemic taught British business owners one thing — besides how to look presentable from the waist up on Zoom calls — it's that single-source supply chains are fragile.
Enter the China-Plus-One strategy. In 2026, it's no longer just a buzzword thrown around by logistics consultants at trade conferences. It's something we're actively helping UK brands implement at Epic Sourcing — and it's becoming a genuine competitive advantage for the businesses that get it right.
New to the world of product sourcing altogether? Our beginner's guide on what product sourcing is and how it works is a great starting point before diving into supply chain strategy.
China-Plus-One (sometimes written C+1) is a supply chain diversification approach. In plain English: you keep sourcing from China — still the world's factory floor by a country mile — but you add at least one other country as a secondary manufacturing base.
The "Plus-One" can be Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, Mexico, or elsewhere depending on your product category. But for most UK businesses we work with, Vietnam is by far the most popular — and most sensible — choice.
It's worth being clear about what China-Plus-One is not. It's not about abandoning China. It's not a political statement. And it's not necessarily cheaper. It's a pragmatic, commercially-driven risk management strategy that smart UK brands are adopting before they need to, rather than scrambling to implement when a crisis hits.
Sourcing Hack #1: Don't try to move your entire product range to Vietnam overnight. The most successful China-Plus-One strategies start by trialling just one or two product lines. Get your processes dialled in, build relationships with Vietnamese manufacturers, then gradually scale. Rome wasn't built in a day — and neither was a resilient supply chain.
Several forces are converging to make supply chain diversification not just smart, but essential for UK importers this year.
The trade landscape has shifted dramatically in recent years. US-China tariff escalations don't directly affect UK importers, but they send ripples through global supply chains. When major markets tighten trade flows, factory capacity and pricing can shift unpredictably.
More directly relevant to British businesses: UK trade policy continues to evolve. Import duty rates, Rules of Origin requirements, and country-of-origin classifications for Chinese-manufactured goods are subject to ongoing scrutiny. Diversifying your manufacturing base now gives you options if the regulatory landscape shifts beneath you.
The UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA) came into effect in 2021, and it's genuinely excellent news for UK importers who know how to use it. Thousands of product categories now attract zero or significantly reduced import duty when sourced from Vietnam, compared to the standard UK Global Tariff rates applied to Chinese goods.
For textiles, footwear, furniture, and processed goods, these savings can be meaningful — and at high import volumes, they compound quickly. For businesses already paying significant duty on Chinese imports, Vietnam deserves a very serious look.
Sourcing Hack #2: Before adding Vietnam to your supply chain, check whether your specific product category qualifies for preferential UKVFTA tariff rates. You'll need to verify Rules of Origin compliance with your supplier — sufficient manufacturing must genuinely take place in Vietnam to claim the preferential rate. A good sourcing agent can guide you through this, or book a call with us and we'll walk you through it.
A few years ago, Vietnam was often described as an "emerging" manufacturing alternative. In 2026, it's simply an established one. Vietnam has benefited from a decade of sustained manufacturing investment — including from global brands seeking to diversify their own supply chains. The factories are there, the quality systems are improving, and the logistics infrastructure from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi is increasingly reliable.
Not every product is a natural fit for Vietnam manufacturing — at least not yet. Here's a realistic picture of where Vietnam shines, based on what we're actively sourcing for UK clients right now.
Vietnam's strongest suit. The country has world-class garment manufacturing capability — particularly for sportswear, activewear, workwear, and casualwear. Pair this with lower labour costs relative to China and the UKVFTA duty advantage, and the maths starts looking very interesting for UK clothing brands.
Vietnam is the world's third-largest footwear exporter. Trainers, boots, handbags, and leather goods all have deep manufacturing roots here. Premium global brands produce luxury goods in Vietnamese factories — the quality ceiling is high.
Solid wood, rattan, bamboo, and upholstered furniture are traditional strengths. If you're in interiors or home décor, Vietnam deserves serious consideration — particularly for natural materials and handcrafted goods.
Phone cases, USB accessories, cables, and simple electronics are increasingly produced in Vietnam as manufacturers follow the big-brand investment wave. Complex electronics manufacturing still favours China's deep ecosystem, but simpler accessories are well within Vietnam's capability.
Sourcing Hack #3: If you're unsure whether your specific product is a good fit for Vietnam, ask a sourcing agent with genuine boots on the ground there. A good agent won't just say "yes, Vietnam can do it" — they'll tell you honestly whether the quality standards, MOQs, and lead times are a realistic match for your business. You can learn more about how sourcing agents operate in our post on the role of sourcing agents in China.
China-Plus-One can sound deceptively straightforward when written up as a strategy document. The reality involves some genuine challenges worth knowing about upfront.
Vietnamese factories — particularly in textiles and furniture — often have higher MOQs than their Chinese counterparts. Where a Chinese factory might produce a run of 300 custom polo shirts, a Vietnamese factory may want 500 as their minimum. Plan your product range and cash flow accordingly.
Building a new supplier relationship always takes longer than maintaining an established one. Budget extra time for sampling, communication rounds, and factory audits when setting up Vietnam manufacturing for the first time. Allow 4–6 weeks longer than your typical China lead time for those first orders.
English is widely spoken in Vietnamese business contexts, but nuance matters — especially when communicating technical product specifications. Bilingual briefs (English and Vietnamese) make a significant difference to the accuracy of what you receive back from the factory.
Sourcing Hack #4: Brief your Vietnamese suppliers in both English and Vietnamese where possible. We produce bilingual project briefs for all our Vietnam clients — it dramatically reduces miscommunication and shortens the sampling round. If you're going direct without an agent, consider having your product specifications professionally translated before sending.
At Epic Sourcing, we've been helping UK brands set up and manage dual-source supply chains across China and Vietnam for several years. A typical China-Plus-One setup might look like this: a UK activewear brand sources their premium performance fabrics and technical base layers from China — where the technical textile mills remain unsurpassed — while manufacturing their core casualwear range in Vietnam, capturing UKVFTA tariff savings and Vietnam's strong apparel manufacturing capability.
The key is identifying which parts of your product range are best suited to each location, rather than trying to replicate the same supply chain in two countries. Our Private Label Package and White Label Package both cover dual-country sourcing strategies for UK businesses.
For those new to importing, our complete guide to importing from China to the UK is essential reading before committing to a dual-source strategy. And if you're wondering whether it's worth buying direct from the factory rather than through a sourcing agent — that post is worth reading too, as the principles apply equally to China and Vietnam sourcing.
It depends on the product category. Labour costs in Vietnam are generally lower than in China, but this can be offset by higher MOQs, less developed logistics in some regions, and a less extensive components supply chain. For textiles and footwear, Vietnam is often genuinely cost-competitive once UKVFTA duty savings are factored in. For complex electronics, China remains cheaper overall.
Not necessarily — particularly if you work with a sourcing agent who has team members based there. At Epic Sourcing, our Vietnam team conducts factory visits, quality inspections, and supplier verifications on behalf of UK clients. That said, a factory visit is always valuable once a relationship is established.
Highly unlikely in the near term. China's manufacturing ecosystem — its components supply chain, its skilled workforce, its infrastructure — is decades in the making and extraordinarily deep. Vietnam is a strong complement to China for specific categories, not a wholesale replacement.
Complex electronics, precision engineering components, specialist materials, and products that rely heavily on China's unique components supply chain are generally better kept in China. Vietnam's strengths are in labour-intensive manufacturing categories rather than technology-intensive ones.
The same due diligence principles that apply in China apply in Vietnam — factory audits, sample verification, trade references, and ideally an on-the-ground agent who knows the landscape. Our guide to finding reliable manufacturers covers the core principles that apply equally to both markets.
The UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement allows many product categories to enter the UK at zero or reduced duty rates, compared to the standard Global Tariff rates for goods from China. To qualify, your goods must meet Rules of Origin requirements — meaning sufficient manufacturing must actually take place in Vietnam. Your sourcing agent or freight forwarder can guide you through this process.
Yes, in principle — but managing supplier relationships across two countries, two languages, and two different manufacturing ecosystems simultaneously is significantly more complex than a single-source supply chain. Most UK brands find that working with an agent who has presence in both China and Vietnam makes the dual-source model far more practical.
China-Plus-One isn't just a strategy for large corporations with dedicated logistics teams. It's increasingly accessible for UK SMEs and eCommerce brands of all sizes — provided you have the right sourcing partner to guide you through it.
At Epic Sourcing, we have teams in China and Vietnam, bilingual project management, and a structured process that takes the complexity out of dual-source sourcing. If you're curious about whether China-Plus-One makes sense for your business, book a free discovery call. We'll give you an honest assessment — no hard sell, just straight talk from people who source for a living.
Or drop us a line at hello@epicsourcing.co.uk or call us on 07551 136406.
TK Wang, Founder & Director @ Epic Sourcing
