Sourcing truck bodies and cabs from China
Bodies and cabs for tractors, buses, goods vehicles and special-purpose vehicles from China pay 4% UK duty with no anti-dumping duty. A body fitted to a chassis completes a vehicle that needs approval under the Road Vehicles (Approval) Regulations 2020, and load-carrying bodies are rated for cargo securing under BS EN 12642. Cambridge China Bridge sources bodies and cabs.
Box, curtain-side, tipper and refrigerated bodies and cabs for trucks from China pay 4% UK duty. Multi-stage approval, BS EN 12642 and a worked example.
4% duty
Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 26 September 2026, bodies including cabs for the motor vehicles of heading 8703 and for those of headings 8701, 8702, 8704 and 8705 carried 4% duty on goods from China, with no anti-dumping measure. Separate body panels, doors and tail lifts may be classified as parts or as lifting equipment elsewhere, so confirm the commodity code for a body shipped complete or in kit form.
| Goods | Commodity code | Duty | Anti-dumping duty on China |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bodies for cars of heading 8703, for industrial assembly | 8707 10 10 00 | 4% | None |
| Bodies for cars of heading 8703, other | 8707 10 90 00 | 4% | None |
| Bodies and cabs for tractors, buses, goods and special-purpose vehicles, other | 8707 90 90 00 | 4% | None |
Approval and body strength
A body mounted on a chassis-cab completes a vehicle, and the completed vehicle needs approval under the Road Vehicles (Approval) Regulations 2020 before registration, usually through multi-stage type approval or individual vehicle approval with the chassis manufacturer's documents. Agree with the body factory and the chassis supplier who holds each stage, and check that lighting, underrun protection, side guards and plates meet the requirements for the finished vehicle.
BS EN 12642 sets the strength of the body structure for cargo securing, with Code L and Code XL ratings for the front wall, side walls and rear doors, and operators increasingly ask for it. Refrigerated bodies need the insulation and refrigeration unit rated for the temperature class. See the electric vans guide and the trailers guide.
Worked duty example
Take a hypothetical order of 50 aluminium box bodies for 7.5-tonne trucks, entered under 8707 90 90 00: £150,000 free on board plus £20,000 of freight and insurance gives a customs value of £170,000. The 4% duty on truck bodies comes to £6,800, and import VAT is 20% of £176,800, which is £35,360. If you are VAT-registered you normally reclaim the £35,360, leaving £6,800 as the real cost at the border. Bodies are bulky, so freight is over a tenth of the customs value; shipping them knocked down can cut it. Step by step: UK import duty and VAT.
What goes wrong
Truck bodies fail on fit, strength and sealing. Subframes do not match the chassis mounting points or wheelbase, bodies claim a BS EN 12642 code without a test, and curtains, doors and hinges tear or sag within months. Floors delaminate, box bodies and refrigerated panels leak water at seams so insulation soaks, and lights, reflectors and side guards do not meet the approval requirements for the completed vehicle.
Send the chassis drawing and mounting instructions to the factory before design, ask for the BS EN 12642 test report for the exact body, check welds, rivets and panel bonding, water-test seams and doors, measure insulation thickness on refrigerated bodies, check lamps, reflectors, underrun and side guards against the approval checklist, and inspect crating or knock-down packing at loading.
Cambridge China Bridge sources box, curtain-side, tipper and refrigerated bodies and cabs for bodybuilders and fleets, with chassis fit and approval documents agreed before production. See how we source vehicle bodies.
Frequently asked questions
What is the UK import duty on truck bodies from China?
Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 26 September 2026, bodies and cabs of heading 8707 carried 4% duty from China.
Does a body need approval?
The completed vehicle does, under the Road Vehicles (Approval) Regulations 2020, usually through multi-stage or individual approval.
What does BS EN 12642 cover?
The strength of a vehicle body for cargo securing, with Code L and Code XL ratings.
What fails most often?
Subframes that do not fit the chassis, untested strength claims, leaking seams and failing curtains or doors.