UK Puts 16.25% to 71.74% Duties on Chinese Boom Lifts

*By Telescro Editorial Team*

The UK started collecting provisional anti-dumping duties of 16.25% to 71.74% on boom lifts made in China on 20 August 2026. The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade accepted the Trade Remedies Authority recommendation, and trade remedies notice 2026/23 was published on 19 August 2026. The measure covers machines designed to lift people, equipment or materials with a maximum working height of six metres or more. Telehandlers are not in the goods description, but the notice lists commodity codes that telescopic handlers can be declared under, which puts the classification burden on the importer.

## What Changed

The TRA opened the investigation on 19 December following an application from UK boom lift producer Niftylift Limited of Milton Keynes. Vertikal.net reports the complaint was filed on 30 September 2025, which places the launch in December 2025.

The TRA issued a Provisional Affirmative Determination, finding that Chinese boom lifts are being dumped, that UK industry is being injured, and that provisional measures pass the economic interest test. The duty applies for up to six months from 20 August 2026 or until a definitive remedy is implemented, whichever comes first.

Importers do not pay the duty outright at this stage. Every importer of the goods has to lodge a guarantee, in the form of a bank guarantee, bond or cash deposit, sized on the provisional ad valorem rate applied to the customs value. That amount only becomes payable if definitive measures follow.

## Key Numbers

– Zhejiang Dingli Machinery: 16.25%, additional code 8A62
– Thirteen non-sampled cooperating exporters listed in Annex 3: 28.12%
– Lingong Heavy Machinery, the LGMG producer: 64.25%, additional code 8A63
– All other overseas exporters, residual rate: 71.74%, additional code B999
– Goods on a listed commodity code that fall outside the goods description: 0%, additional code 8C02

The Annex 3 list at 28.12% is broader than the Chinese domestic brands. It names Sunward, XCMG Group, Zoomlion Intelligent Access Machinery, Jiangsu LiuGong, Fronteq, Hered, Chufeng, Joovoo and Jinan Juxin, and it also names Oshkosh JLG Tianjin, Terex Changzhou and Haulotte Access Equipment Manufacturing Changzhou. Western brands building in China sit inside the same measure.

## What It Means for Equipment Buyers

Read the commodity code list before you read the rates. Notice 2026/23 attaches the duty to goods matching the description when declared under 8427 1010 10, 8427 1010 90, 8427 1090 00, 8427 2019 10, 8427 2019 90, 8427 2090 00, 8427 9000 80, 8428 1020 00, 8428 1080 00, 8428 9090 20, 8428 9090 80, 8431 2000 60, 8431 3100 00, 8431 3900 10 and 8431 3900 90.

HMRC tariff notice 29, published on 17 December 2025, sets out how telescopic loaders classify. Self-propelled wheeled machines with a telescopic front boom designed for interchangeable tools are potentially classifiable in heading 8427 or 8429, and a machine presented with a fork carriage goes to 8427. A machine presented with no interchangeable tool goes to 8429 by General Interpretative Rule 3(c).

If you import a Chinese-built telehandler into the UK on an 8427 code that appears in the notice, you are declaring on a code that now carries an anti-dumping measure even though your machine is outside the goods description. The exclusion route exists inside the notice itself: additional code 8C02 at 0% for goods classified to a listed code that do not fall within the goods description. Using it correctly is your declaration, not the exporter’s.

Three checks are worth doing before your next UK shipment. Ask HMRC for an Advance Tariff Ruling on the exact configuration you are importing, so the classification is in writing rather than assumed. Confirm which additional code your broker intends to declare and why. If you are buying a boom lift rather than a telehandler and expect a company-specific rate, make sure the commercial invoice carries the Annex 2 declaration naming the producer and additional code, because the residual 71.74% applies when that declaration is missing.

The comparison that matters is landed cost, not list price. A European-built telehandler from Manitou, Merlo, JCB or Faresin carries no anti-dumping exposure into the UK. A Chinese-built boom lift from an Annex 3 producer now carries 28.12% on customs value, and one from an unlisted exporter carries 71.74%. A Chinese-built telehandler carries neither, provided the classification holds up.

## Telescro Analysis

This suggests UK trade remedy pressure on Chinese construction and lifting equipment is broadening rather than staying in one category. The UK Integrated Online Tariff stop press dated 15 July 2026 records the TRA applying registration on imports of certain excavators from China under commodity code 8429521000 from 16 July 2026, with additional codes covering LiuGong, Sany, XCMG, Sunward and Caterpillar Group machines in defined weight bands. Two equipment categories drew UK action within roughly five weeks.

For buyers, the practical implication is that classification and origin paperwork now carry more cost risk in the UK than they did a year ago, and that risk is asymmetric. A wrong code on a boom lift can add tens of percent to customs value. A correct code with a documented ruling costs an application.

Vertikal.net reports that Niftylift has suggested the TRA also examine Zoomlion and Sinoboom, both of which have significant UK sales volumes. That is a trade-media account of the applicant’s position rather than a TRA decision, and the TRA investigation is still running.

## Risks or Limitations

The measure is provisional. Vertikal.net notes the rates are likely to change when the final measure is published, and that companies subject to the duties may appeal. Where a definitive duty ends up lower than the provisional rate, HMRC collects only the definitive amount; where it lands higher, only the amount secured under the provisional duty is collected.

Whether a specific machine falls inside or outside the goods description is settled by binding classification, not by reading the notice alongside a spec sheet. Treat everything above as a prompt to get a ruling.

The TRA press release states the investigation launched on 19 December without naming the year. We date it to December 2025 on the basis of the 30 September 2025 complaint date reported by Vertikal.net, and flag that as inference rather than an official statement.

## Sources

– [TRA imposes anti-dumping duties on boom lifts from China, Trade Remedies Authority](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/tra-imposes-anti-dumping-duties-on-boom-lifts-from-china)
– [Trade remedies notice 2026/23: provisional anti-dumping duty on boom lifts originating from China](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/trade-remedies-notices-boom-lifts-originating-from-china–2/trade-remedies-notice-202623-provisional-anti-dumping-duty-on-boom-lifts-originating-from-china–2)
– [Telescopic loaders (Tariff notice 29), HM Revenue and Customs](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/telescopic-loaders-tariff-notice-29)
– [Anti-Dumping Duty on certain Excavators originating from China, UK Integrated Online Tariff](https://trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/news/stories/anti-dumping-duty-on-certain-excavators-originating-from-china–15-july-2026)
– [UK applies anti-dumping duties on boom lifts, Vertikal.net](https://vertikal.net/en/news/story/49148/uk-applies-anti-dumping-duties-on-boom-lifts)