Importing clothing and footwear into Peru.

Apparel and shoes meet Peru’s highest tariff rate, long-standing anti-dumping duties on Chinese footwear and an Andean labelling regulation. Here is the tariff, the trade-defence measures in force, the label rules, a worked example and what ACE 58 does and does not do for Paraguayan goods.

Top tariff, trade defence and Andean labels.

Clothing and footwear are where Peru’s otherwise low tariff peaks. Every line of knitted apparel (chapter 61) and footwear (chapter 64), and almost every line of woven apparel and home textiles (62–63), pays 11%, Peru’s highest rate. On top of that, Chinese leather and plastic footwear has carried anti-dumping duties for a quarter of a century, several polyester fabrics from Asia are under anti-dumping measures, and apparel and footwear must carry labels that meet an Andean technical regulation and Peru’s footwear rule.

There is no excise, no sanitary registration and no import licence for clothing or shoes. The general tax stack — 16% IGV, 2% municipal tax and the IGV prepayment — is explained in our Peru customs guide; this article covers what is specific to the group.

11% unless you have a preference.

Peru’s trade agreements bring the 11% to zero for many origins — the US, the EU, the Pacific Alliance, Korea and others — with a valid proof of origin that meets the agreement’s textile rules. Textile origin rules are often strict, so a garment sewn in a partner country from third-country fabric may not qualify. Check the rule of origin, not just the country.

Law and practice: Arancel de Aduanas 2022 (Supreme Decree 404-2021-EF), rates by chapter as published by SUNAT.

Banned for commercial import.

Peru prohibits the import of used clothing and footwear for commercial purposes under Law 28514 of May 2005. Its regulation, Supreme Decree 024-2005-PRODUCE, defines the scope broadly: garments and accessories, bed, table, bathroom and kitchen linen, footwear and hats, whatever their presentation or condition. The only exceptions are donations, travellers’ luggage and household effects (menaje de casa).

SUNAT treats imports in breach of the ban as customs offences: the goods are seized, and a June 2025 SUNAT legal report confirms that seized second-hand clothing may be allocated under the General Customs Law once SUNAT has checked that it poses no health risk; goods that do are destroyed. A Paraguayan or other trader that sorts and resells used clothing cannot use Peru as a market for it.

Law and practice: Law 28514 (prohibition of imports of used clothing and footwear), arts. 1–2; Supreme Decree 024-2005-PRODUCE; SUNAT Report 000080-2025-SUNAT/340000 (6 June 2025).

Chinese shoes, Asian polyester.

The footwear measure is the one most importers meet. It covers Chinese footwear with natural-leather uppers and with rubber or plastic uppers across 21 tariff subheadings, excluding sandals and flip-flops. Since a 2022 review the duties apply whatever the declared price, so cheap and expensive shoes alike pay them. The five-year term was due to end on 30 November 2026, but in July 2026 INDECOPI opened a sunset review at the request of the Peruvian footwear chamber and six producers, citing a 123.5% rise in Chinese imports in 2022–2025; the duties stay in force while it runs, and the evidence period alone is six months, extendable by three.

Sneakers with textile uppers are a different story: duties imposed in 2024 were annulled on appeal by INDECOPI’s competition chamber, published in January 2026. Classify textile-upper footwear carefully, because the line between textile and other uppers now decides whether anti-dumping duty applies. The amount of each duty is set in the relevant resolution and can differ by product and exporter; take the current figure for your tariff line from the resolution, not from a competitor’s invoice.

On apparel, Peru investigated a general safeguard on 284 subheadings of chapters 61–63 in 2021–2023 and decided not to impose it. Domestic producers continue to lobby for measures, so watch for new investigations.

Law and practice: Resolutions 001-2000/CDS-INDECOPI, 061-2022/CDB-INDECOPI and 205-2022/CDB-INDECOPI (footwear); Resolution 146-2026/CDB-INDECOPI (sunset review, July 2026); Resolution 0292-2025/SDC-INDECOPI (textile-upper sneakers); Supreme Decree 002-2023-MINCETUR (no safeguard).

Andean rules for garments, Peruvian rules for shoes.

Since 14 February 2021, garments, accessories and home textiles sold in Peru must comply with the Reglamento Técnico Andino para el Etiquetado de Confecciones, Andean Community Resolution 2109, as amended by Resolution 2173. It covers chapters 61, 62 and 63 and related lines and sets minimum label content: fibre composition by generic fibre name in decreasing order, care instructions in words or ISO symbols, country of origin, size, and the name and tax identification of the manufacturer or importer. Composition, care and origin go on a permanent label; information must be in Spanish, legible and indelible.

Footwear follows Peru’s own technical regulation on footwear labelling (Reglamento Técnico sobre Etiquetado de Calzado), which requires the materials of the main parts of the shoe to be declared, together with origin and manufacturer or importer details. The Peruvian technical standard NTP 241.024 is the usual reference for format.

Customs no longer checks labels at clearance. Since Legislative Decree 1304, labelling of manufactured goods is verified when they are placed on the market, and enforcement belongs to INDECOPI, which can fine the importer and order withdrawal. Labelling cannot hold up release from customs — but a non-compliant container still cannot be sold, so fix labels at origin or in a bonded warehouse.

Law and practice: Andean Community Resolutions 2109 (2019) and 2173; Supreme Decree 017-2004-PRODUCE (footwear labelling); Legislative Decree 1304 and Supreme Decree 015-2017-PRODUCE; SUNAT Report 031-2023-SUNAT/340000.

Low prices draw questions.

Apparel and footwear are a priority for SUNAT’s customs valuation controls. Prices well below SUNAT’s reference databases for comparable goods trigger a doubt about value, and the importer must justify the price with contracts, payment records and the supplier’s costing, or accept an adjustment. Related-party purchases from a group trading company draw particular attention. Keep the full payment trail for every shipment.

Law and practice: SUNAT valuation procedure (revised 2026); see our Peru customs guide.

One shipment, with and without a preference.

For a registered importer, the true cost is the duty: 11% without a preference, zero with one. Anti-dumping duties, where they apply, come on top and are pure cost. The cash needed at clearance for a first import is more than 40% of CIF without a preference.

Law and practice: Illustrative; no anti-dumping duty. IGV and IPM base: CIF + duty. Prepayment base: CIF + all taxes.

ACE 58 is thinner here.

Textiles, footwear and leather are the sectors in which Peru’s preferences for Paraguay under ACE 58 are least complete: some lines are partly excluded or keep a residual duty. Do not assume 0% for a Paraguayan garment or shoe; check the line in SUNAT’s tariff database and the ACE 58 schedule, and make sure the product meets the agreement’s origin rule.

Paraguay’s exports to Peru in this group are small: in 2025, about US$0.85 million of knitted apparel, US$0.48 million of footwear, US$0.44 million of synthetic staple fibres and US$0.32 million of carpets, according to UN Comtrade data. For Paraguayan manufacturers working under the maquila regime, the realistic route into Peru is uniforms, workwear and textile inputs sold to Peruvian brands and institutions, with labels made to the Andean regulation from the start.

Before the first shipment.

Where these rules come from.

SUNAT — Arancel de Aduanas 2022 · INDECOPI — trade remedies in force, January 2026 · El Peruano — Resolution 146-2026/CDB-INDECOPI (footwear review) · Expreso — textile-upper sneaker duties annulled · Andina — Resolution 061-2022/CDB-INDECOPI · El Peruano — no apparel safeguard (2023) · INDECOPI — fact sheet, Andean Resolution 2109 · SUNAT — Report 031-2023 on footwear labelling · SUNAT — Report 080-2025 on used clothing (Law 28514) · Trading Economics — Paraguay exports to Peru (UN Comtrade)

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