Tariff monitor · Machinery & Equipment

Lifting and handling equipment: statutory & effective tariff rates

Statutory HTS duty rates for 15 lifting and handling equipment tariff lines (MFN Free), from USITC. Effective rate May 2026: 19.53%; monthly history since 2023.

Statutory rates from the schedule

  • Forklifts, hoists, conveyors, and other material-handling machinery. This family covers HTS headings 8427, 8428: 15 eight-digit rate lines with MFN (column 1, general) rates of Free in the 2026 schedule.
  • Chapter 99 flags on individual lines mark Section 301/232 overlay provisions (e.g. 9903.88.01) that apply on top of the MFN column.

What importers actually paid

  • Latest month on record (2026-05): 19.53% effective on $1.1B of imports, versus 9.66% in the same month a year earlier. The monthly archive holds 41 observations from 2023-01 through 2026-05.
  • In 2025, U.S. imports for consumption in this family totaled $13.8B in customs value and paid $1.6B in calculated duties: an effective tariff rate of 11.37%. The effective rate captures Section 301/232 overlays, exclusions, and special-program use that the statutory column cannot.
  • A year earlier the effective rate was 1.77%, so the duty burden rose 9.6 points.
  • Top source countries in 2025: Mexico ($2.3B at 4.22%), Japan ($1.9B at 14.24%), Canada ($1.5B at 1.8%), Germany ($1.4B at 12.52%), South Korea ($1.3B at 6.88%).

Representative rate lines

  • 8427.10.40: Rider-type, counterbalanced fork-lift trucks — MFN Free
  • 8427.10.80: Other — MFN Free
  • 8427.20.40.00: Rider-type, counterbalanced fork-lift trucks — MFN Free
  • 8427.20.80: Other — MFN Free
  • 8427.90.00: Other trucks — MFN Free
  • 8428.10.00.00: Passenger or freight elevators other than continuous action; skip hoists — MFN Free
  • 8428.20.00: Pneumatic elevators and conveyors — MFN Free
  • 8428.31.00.00: Specially designed for underground use — MFN Free

About this data

  • Reference statistics derived from USITC published data. Not a customs ruling; verify rates with a licensed customs broker before relying on them.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.