The European Commission announced on 29 April 2025 that it had imposed duties of up to 66.7% on imports of Chinese construction lifts.

The extra duties on Chinese mobile access equipment (MAE) will range from 20.6% to 66.7%.

MAE is used to lift workers to carry out work at height, mainly in the construction sector, but also to install antennas and other telecom equipment.

The measures aim to shield the EU MAE industry, which employs over 3,000 people across several Member States, from unfair trading practices. They also aim to safeguard EU producers in a market valued at over EUR 1 billion annually.

The tariffs mark the latest step in the EU’s ongoing efforts to address anti-dumping and anti-subsidy concerns related to Chinese imports.

The European Union has implemented anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on nearly 80 Chinese products, ranging from biodiesel imports to ironing boards to bicycles, to address unfair trade practices. This also includes a prominent investigation into Chinese-manufactured electric vehicles, which concluded in October 2024.

The Commission’s anti-subsidy investigation revealed that unfair Chinese subsidies, including land use rights below fair value, preferential financing, and tax reductions, made it difficult for the EU industry to compete with imports from China and resulted in significant market share losses, despite a strong increase in demand for MAE.

Chinese producers had gained a 41% market share by October 2022, up from 29% in 2020, selling at prices 20% lower than those of their EU competitors.

The tariffs will apply to Chinese companies like Hunan Sinoboom, Zoomlion, and Zhejiang Dingli.

Earlier, on 25 April 2025, the EU Economic Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis urged Chinese officials, including China’s finance minister and central bank governor, not to flood EU markets with goods redirected from the US, where 145% tariffs on Chinese goods have closed the market. He warned the EU would act to protect its markets if Chinese imports became a major threat.