Trade-defence measures took center stage in the UK Global Tariff today as authorities enacted new controls on imports of suspension and bulk polyvinyl chloride (PVC) from China, Mexico, and South Korea. In parallel, existing trade-defence measures and associated clearance conditions on Chinese track-laying excavators lapsed, accompanied by technical nomenclature maintenance in organic chemicals. All 11 measures loaded in today’s tariff feed took effect immediately, marking an active shift in polymer trade terms.

The themes

Today’s regulatory activity in the UK Global Tariff centered squarely on trade defence, with all newly loaded records taking immediate effect. The primary focus fell on industrial plastics (Chapter 39), where authorities activated trade-remedy measures across major global supply lines for commodity and specialty polymers.

At the same time, the machinery sector (Chapter 84) saw the conclusion of trade-defence measures on heavy earthmoving equipment from China, following controls active earlier this month. Together with a minor classification alignment in organic chemicals (Chapter 29), today’s update reflects targeted enforcement in chemical base materials alongside scheduled adjustments in heavy machinery.

Headline items

1. New trade-defence measures on S-PVC and M-PVC

Authorities enacted trade-defence measures across two commodity codes covering polyvinyl chloride polymerised through suspension polymerisation (‘S-PVC’) and bulk or mass polymerisation (‘M-PVC’) in pure form:

  • Commodity codes: 3904100021 and 3904100081
  • Targeted origins: China, Mexico, and South Korea
  • Product scope: Includes commodity S-PVC, extender S-PVC, and specialty S-PVC; emulsion-polymerised PVC (‘E-PVC’) is explicitly excluded.

Importers of uncompounded PVC resins from these three origins must immediately account for new trade-defence requirements on customs entries.

2. Trade-defence expiry on Chinese track-laying excavators

Trade-defence measures governing track-laying excavators (8429521000) originating in China lapsed today. In tandem with the measure ending, two associated clearance conditions and an attached footnote were removed from the tariff line. Importers should confirm how declaration software handles customs entries for these machines now that these specific restrictions have ended.

3. Nomenclature alignment on glutathione

Under Chapter 29, a description update took effect for glutathione (CAS RN 70-18-8) under commodity code 2930909535 for all origins, refining the technical nomenclature description without altering duty terms.

Coming into force

All 11 measures detected in today’s update took effect immediately on 22 October 2026, with zero future-dated measures loaded:

  • Polyvinyl chloride (S-PVC / M-PVC) (3904100021, 3904100081): New trade-defence measures effective immediately for imports from China, Mexico, and South Korea.
  • Track-laying excavators (8429521000): Trade-defence measure, associated conditions, and footnote ended effective today for Chinese-origin imports.
  • Glutathione (2930909535): Nomenclature description change effective across all origins today.

What to watch

Compliance teams handling polymer supply chains should verify that clearance systems immediately incorporate the new trade-defence controls on Chinese, Mexican, and South Korean PVC. For heavy machinery, customs brokers should ensure import declarations for Chinese-origin excavators reflect the removal of the expired trade-defence conditions.

By the numbers

Change records by type Change records by type 2026-10-22 · UK Global Tariff New measures 6 Condition removed 2 Description change 1 Footnote removed 1 Measures ending 1 Each record is a distinct measure-level change detected that day. Change records by category Change records by category What kind of rule changed Trade defence (AD/CVD/safeguard) 7 Condition 2 Footnote 1 Nomenclature 1 Trade-defence activity by origin Trade-defence activity by origin Commodity lines hit by anti-dumping / countervailing / safeguard changes China 3 South Korea 2 Mexico 2 Counts distinct commodity codes per origin loaded that day. Most-affected product chapters Most-affected product chapters HS chapters with the most change records Plastics and articles thereof 6 Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery… 4 Organic chemicals 1