US imports of Fork-lift trucks

US imports under HTS 8427 at a glance

Between March and July 2026, US importers entered $2.74 billion of fork-lift trucks under HTS heading 8427, from 37 of the 55 origin countries covered here and across 14 ten-digit tariff lines — roughly $547 million a month of customs value under a single four-digit heading.

The heading belongs to chapter 84, machinery, mechanical appliances and computers. Classification disputes in this range usually turn on the six-digit subheading, which is where the rates start to diverge.

Who exports fork-lift trucks to the United States

United Kingdom is the largest origin with $572 million, or 20.9% of the heading, with Japan at 16.3% and Mexico at 12.2%. The top three take 49.4% between them — enough concentration to matter when one origin's duty treatment changes, but not so much that a buyer has no alternative to qualify.

Mexico and Canada sit near the top of the table, and the duty numbers reflect it: Mexico entered 19% of its value free of duty and Canada entered 37.7% of its value free of duty. Cargo that qualifies under USMCA and is claimed correctly at entry pays nothing; cargo that does not qualify, or that is never claimed, pays the ordinary rate. The certification is the whole difference.

What importers actually paid in duty

Almost everything under this heading is dutiable: 93% of entered value carried duty, and CBP collected $585 million over the five months. The effective rate on dutiable value was 23%, which works out to $21.36 of duty per $100 of goods. There is no meaningful duty-free channel here — classification and origin are the only levers.

The spread between origins is real. Among origins with at least 2% of the heading, China paid the most duty relative to value — $45.81 per $100 — while Canada paid $15.93. On a $250,000 purchase order that gap is about $75,000 in duty alone, which is worth pricing into a sourcing decision rather than discovering on the entry summary.

The 10-digit lines under heading 8427

14 ten-digit lines carried trade under this heading in the period. The largest, 8427.20.80.90 (other), took 46.5% of the heading at $1.27 billion. 8427.10.80.20, 8427.20.40.00 and 8427.20.80.20 follow. Rates diverge between those lines, so the classification your broker files is worth checking against the goods rather than carried over from the last entry.

What the duty stack looks like

The rate on an entry is not one number. It is a stack: the general (column 1) rate for the 10-digit line, less any trade-agreement preference the goods qualify for, plus whatever additional duties apply to that product and origin, all applied to the customs value declared. The $21.36 per $100 above is what that stack averaged across every entry in this heading — a benchmark, not a quote.

For the origins carrying the most volume, the per-country breakdowns go a level deeper: United Kingdom (8427.20.80), Japan (8427.20.80) and China (8427.10.80). To price a specific shipment, put your 10-digit code and country of origin into the tariff simulator.

What this means for your next shipment

The numbers above are a starting point, not the answer for a specific shipment: the rate depends on the exact 10-digit line, the origin, and any trade-agreement claim you can substantiate. Airlift USA arranges the ocean and air movement and coordinates classification and entry filing through our licensed broker network.

For the operational side rather than the tariff side, see the Heavy Machinery & Industrial Equipment guide for how this cargo moves, the China to USA lane for transit times and ports and the heading index to compare against the rest of chapter 84.