Sourcing boom lifts and machinery parts from China

A new anti-dumping case on boom lifts

The Trade Remedies Authority opened case AD0075, boom lifts from China, on 19 December 2025, with a parallel subsidy case, AS0076, and published a provisional determination on 19 August 2026. Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 25 September 2026, provisional anti-dumping measures on China applied from 20 August 2026 to mobile access equipment codes and their sections and parts, with an end date of 20 February 2027 on the provisional measure. A full check on 26 September 2026 found the provisional measure attached to further lines as well, including the other lines of 8427 10 and 8427 20, 8427 90 00 80, sections of heading 8427 machinery under 8431 20 00 60 and parts under 8431 31 and 8431 39, so the additional code for an access platform or its section has to be checked whichever line it is declared under.

The rate depends on the exporter. Goods from producers not named in the case carried 71.74% on top of the ordinary duty; named producers have their own additional codes, and the tariff makes the individual rate conditional on a commercial invoice carrying a signed declaration that the named company produced the goods. Without that declaration the 71.74% residual applies. Goods outside the case description are declared under an exclusion code at 0%. Check the case file and the tariff for the exact model before any order. For forklift purchases, see our forklift truck sourcing guide. For pallet-handling equipment, see our electric pallet truck sourcing guide.

On 5 October 2026 the Trade Remedies Authority published its Statement of Essential Facts, its intended final determination. It proposes an anti-dumping measure with duties of up to 82.89%, above the provisional rate, after finding that Chinese boom lift import prices undercut the UK industry by more than 25% and that the measure is in the economic interest of the UK. Interested parties can comment on the public file for case AD0075 until 20 October 2026; the Authority then makes its final recommendation to the Secretary of State. This is a proposal, not a final rate: the press release gives no rate for individual producers, so check the public file for the named producer on your invoice before you commit to a price.

Access platforms are high-risk machinery

The Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008 list, at item 17 of Annex IV, devices for the lifting of persons or of persons and goods involving a hazard of falling from a vertical height of more than three metres. Annex IV machinery follows a special conformity assessment route, so ask the factory which route it used, who the approved body was, and for the certificate and declaration for the exact model and configuration you are buying.

In use, the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 require lifting equipment for lifting persons to be thoroughly examined at least every six months, or under an examination scheme. A hire fleet or contractor buying platforms needs the manuals, load charts and the information an examiner will ask for, in English, from the first delivery.

Earthmoving parts

Buckets, blades, teeth and track parts carry no duty and no anti-dumping measure, and they are a large category because they wear out. The quality questions are the steel grade and hardness of wear parts, the weld procedure and inspection on buckets, and the fit to the machine: a bucket is bought for a specific coupler and pin size, so give the factory the machine model and the coupler drawing. For hydraulic attachments, see our excavator hydraulic breaker sourcing guide.

Ask for material certificates and hardness readings, and check welds and dimensions at inspection before the parts are painted. The custom metal components guide covers drawings and tolerances.

Worked duty example

A hypothetical shipment, not a quote: 10 electric boom lifts under 8427 10 10 10 from a producer not named in the case, bought for £300,000 free on board with £20,000 of freight and insurance, so the customs value is £320,000. Duty at 4% is £12,800 and provisional anti-dumping duty at 71.74% is £229,568; the final determination decides whether provisional duty is collected in full or refunded. Import VAT is 20% of £562,368, which is £112,473.60. The same money spent on excavator buckets under 8431 41 00 90 would pay 0% duty and no trade remedy. The import duty and VAT guide explains each step.

Inspection checklist

Welding: ask for the welding procedure qualifications to ISO 15614-1 and welder qualifications to ISO 9606-1 for the boom and chassis, and check critical welds visually and by the non-destructive tests named in the drawings.

Hydraulics: check the hydraulic system design follows ISO 4413, that hose assemblies are rated and dated, and that holding valves keep the platform in place with a hose disconnected at the pre-shipment test.

Electrics and documents: ask for electromagnetic compatibility evidence to ISO 13766-1 for the machine, check battery charging and emergency stop circuits work, and check the load chart, decals and manual are in English.

What goes wrong

Access platforms fail on duty, conformity and safety systems. The producer on the invoice is not the named company in the case, so the residual provisional rate applies, and the machine arrives without the applicable conformity assessment that Annex IV machinery needs. Overload sensing and tilt alarms are set wrong, emergency lowering does not work, platform gates and guard rails are weak, and earthmoving parts are in softer steel than the hardness claimed, so teeth and cutting edges wear fast.

Check the producer's name and invoice declaration against the case before ordering, get the approved body certificate and declaration for the exact model, ask for load, stability and overload tests to BS EN 280, test overload cut-out, tilt alarm and emergency lowering on each machine before shipment, plan the first thorough examination under LOLER, and check hardness and welds on buckets and wear parts.

Planning the order

For access equipment the duty now decides the supplier as much as the price: a named producer with a valid invoice declaration and a producer outside the case can differ by the whole residual rate. Work out the landed price for each candidate factory, and keep the declaration requirements in the contract.

Cambridge China Bridge sources access platforms, earthmoving parts and machinery sections: we check the case and the tariff for the exact product, confirm the conformity assessment and the documents, and inspect before shipment. See how our sourcing service works.