In 2026 the trade barriers aimed at Chinese construction equipment target complete machines, not replacement parts — but the distinction matters, because machines and parts are classified under different tariff codes and the rules around both are moving. The UK opened an absorption review of its anti-dumping duty on Chinese excavators in March 2026, and the EU's new Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 applies from 1 January 2026.
What is the UK doing about Chinese excavators?
On 30 March 2026 the UK Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) initiated an absorption review, its first, following an application from a UK producer of excavators. An absorption review examines whether an anti-dumping duty is actually having its intended effect, or whether importers are absorbing it so that resale prices do not rise.
The duties in question range from 18.81% for a sampled exporter to a 40.08% residual rate. They apply to excavators from China with an operating weight of 11 tonnes or more but less than 80 tonnes, under commodity code 8429 5210 00. The definitive duty was imposed in May 2025, following provisional measures in December 2024. Separately, in July 2026 the TRA ended its measures for one named exporter while applying registration on imports under additional codes covering the 11–80 tonne band, machines below 11 tonnes and machines of 80 tonnes and above. Registration is what allows a duty to be applied retroactively if a review concludes that it is warranted.
Does the anti-dumping duty apply to spare parts?
No. The measure runs against complete excavators classified under 8429 5210 00. Replacement parts are classified separately, under heading 8431 — parts of machinery of headings 8426, 8429 and 8430 — and commonly under subheading 8431.49 for excavator parts. As of late 2026 the ordinary UK duty on those parts subheadings was zero, and the excavator anti-dumping measure did not extend to them.
The practical point is not to assume that will never change, and not to assume it without checking either. Ask your supplier to state the HS code on the commercial invoice and confirm it with your own customs broker. A machine duty and a parts duty are separate questions, and treating them as one either overstates your landed cost or, worse, understates it.
What changed in the EU in 2026?
Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, the new Machinery Regulation, applies from 1 January 2026, replacing the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC that had been in place for nearly two decades. It covers machinery and also partly completed machinery, and it adds requirements around cybersecurity for connected machinery and around the availability of instructions across the product's life. The harmonised standards for earthmoving machinery remain the EN 474 series, with EN ISO 12100 for risk assessment.
For buyers of machines, the transitional point matters: certificates issued under the old directive can remain valid, but only up to 14 January 2027. If you are importing machinery into the EU, check that the CE documentation you are offered is issued under the framework that applies now.
Does Stage V affect parts?
Stage V (Regulation (EU) 2016/1628) regulates the engines of non-road mobile machinery; it does not regulate pins, bushings or teeth. What it does affect is which machines enter a fleet and stay in it, and therefore which spares those machines will need. Emissions rules push older machines out of European fleets and into export markets, which shifts where demand for a given part number sits rather than removing it.
What should a parts buyer take from all this?
- Keep machine tariffs and parts tariffs as separate questions.
- Have the supplier state the HS code on the invoice.
- Watch the outcome of the UK absorption review, which can vary duty levels rather than merely confirm them.
- Check that EU-bound machinery documentation reflects the regulation in force from 2026.
Parts demand is driven by machines already working, not by new machine sales in any single quarter, which is why a duty on complete machines rarely removes demand for undercarriage parts, bucket pins or breaker parts in the same market. If anything, it extends the working life of the fleet that is already there.