13.11.2025

Crane anti dumping complaint

Four crane manufacturers and the German equipment manufacturer’s associations VDMA and Intralogistics Association have filed an anti-dumping complaint with the European Union, which asks it to investigate their claims that a number of large Chinese crane manufacturers have been using unfair tactics to infiltrate the European market for All Terrain, Rough Terrain and Crawler cranes - or to be more price mobile cranes of more than 30 tonnes capacity.

Filings such as this usually claim that those cited are selling either below cost or at uncommercial levels below their home market pricing levels or employed uncommercial sales tactics. We have yet to look over the full text of the request.

The release announcing the complaint is entitled “European mobile crane industry launches trade complaint against manifestly unfair imports of Chinese mobile cranes”
The manufacturers participating in the complaint include Liebherr, Manitowoc/Grove, Tadano and Sennebogen. The complaint was officially filed with the EU yesterday.

The full announcement can be seen below.

Each of the participating manufacturers has also issued a statement:

Christoph Kleiner of Liebherr said: "Our European industry welcomes fair competition, but it is patently unfair to compete with products whose selling conditions do not come close to covering the raw materials, energy and production costs of a European mobile crane manufacturer. Chinese manufacturers benefit from a wide range of subsidy mechanisms, which give them a massively unfair advantage when exporting to the EU.”

Aaron Ravenscroft of Manitowoc said: “We believe in fair competition and have urged the European Commission to address the material injury to European industry caused by the dumping tactics of Chinese exporting producers. We call on the Commission to restore a level playing field across the EU.”

Noriaki Yashiro of Tadano said: “While we believe in fair competition, the distortive pricing tactics of exporting producers from China warrant the opening of a trade defence investigation. We call on the European Commission to take swift and decisive action to ensure a fair and competitive environment for future production and employment in Europe’s mobile crane manufacturing sector.”

Erich Sennebogen added: “Chinese mobile crane producers are increasingly focusing on export markets, with the EU market being a prime target. The combination of spare production capacities in China, existing stocks and substantial Chinese governmental support, means that material injury to the vulnerable European industry will continue if anti-dumping measures are not imposed. These measures need to be taken to ensure fair global competition.”

Vertikal Comment

This move is a surprise in some ways, as until this year Chinese manufacturers had failed to gain much traction within the EU. More recently, though, they have landed some substantial orders, and even more surprisingly, are now selling significant numbers of large All Terrains.

Developing a complaint such as this does not happen overnight - it can take a year or more to gather the information, compile a coherent complaint and then get buy-in from as many companies as possible.

Tariffs of any kind are not the panacea they might seem on the surface, and if instigated by manufacturers, they can really anger the customer base, especially if they succeed and their implementation is followed by price increases and improved manufacturer profits...as all too often they are.

It will be a good year or more before we are likely to see the outcome of this complaint. All we hope for is that the investigation is fair, truthful and open. Finally, even if the investigation does not find dumping level tactics, it will at the very least ‘fire a warning shot across the bows’ of the Chinese crane manufacturers.

We will follow up with the EU and look over the full complaint, in the meantime here is the full text of the announcement from the VDMA.

European mobile crane industry launches trade complaint against manifestly unfair imports of Chinese mobile cranes
Frankfurt, 13 November 2025

Members of the VDMA Materials Handling and Intralogistics Association, active in the mobile crane industry, have filed a complaint to the European Commission concerning the influx of mobile cranes from China into the European Union. They have requested an urgent investigation into imports of Chinese mobile cranes marketed in the EU at conditions that result in manifestly unfair competition for European producers.

Companies involved in the complaint, who together represent approximately 99% of the EU industry, comprise:

Liebherr, a global market leader for mobile cranes, with headquarters in Ehingen (Germany) and Nenzing (Austria).
Manitowoc, one of the world's leading providers of engineered lifting solutions, which has its European headquarters in Wilhelmshaven, Germany.
Sennebogen, a market leader in many sectors of the crane industry with a particular focus on the manufacturing of crawler cranes, with headquarters in Straubing (Germany); and
Tadano, a global leader in lifting and access equipment, with German manufacturing facilities located in Zweibrücken and Lauf an der Pegnitz, is active in the development and manufacturing of all-terrain cranes, city cranes and crawler cranes.

The current trade complaint focuses on mobile cranes designed for the lifting and moving of materials on land, with a lifting capacity of at least 30 tonnes, mounted on self-propelled vehicles. Such mobile cranes are key to ensuring Europe’s strategic independence, particularly in relation to critical infrastructure, defence and energy.

High performance mobile cranes play an essential role in constructing new power lines and transformer stations for the renewable energy sector. Mobile cranes are also vital for the construction and maintenance of efficient road, rail and bridge networks. This in turn is necessary to enable supply chains and rapid deployment of emergency services. Furthermore, mobile cranes are crucial to military operations and provide protection for military personnel during deployment.

European manufacturers not only meet EU and global environmental and data protection standards, but they have invested to improve substantially the safety and performance of mobile cranes while providing quality and value for their customers. The unfair trade complaint emphasises the need for Europe to preserve the viability of this strategically vital European industry and avoid future dependence on non-EU suppliers.

Industry quotes

"Our European industry welcomes fair competition, but it is patently unfair to compete with products whose selling conditions do not come close to covering the raw materials, energy and production costs of a European mobile crane manufacturer. Chinese manufacturers benefit from a wide range of subsidy mechanisms, which gives them a massively unfair advantage when exporting to the EU.”
Christoph Kleiner, Managing Director Sales, Liebherr-Werk Ehingen GmbH

“We believe in fair competition and have urged the European Commission to address the material injury to European industry caused by the dumping tactics of Chinese exporting producers. We call on the Commission to restore a level playing field across the EU.”
Aaron Ravenscroft, President & CEO, The Manitowoc Company, Inc.

“While we believe in fair competition, the distortive pricing tactics of exporting producers from China warrant the opening of a trade defence investigation. We call on the European Commission to take swift and decisive action to ensure a fair and competitive environment for future production and employment in Europe’s mobile crane manufacturing sector.”
Noriaki Yashiro, CEO, Tadano Europe Holdings GmbH

“Chinese mobile crane producers are increasingly focusing on export markets, with the EU market being a prime target. The combination of spare production capacities in China, existing stocks and substantial Chinese governmental support, means that material injury to the vulnerable European industry will continue if anti-dumping measures are not imposed. These measures need to be taken to ensure fair global competition.”
Erich Sennebogen, Shareholder and Managing Director, SENNEBOGEN Maschinenfabrik GmbH