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USA Customs & Border Protection Procedures

Before you decide to import a Motor car or vehicle into the USA, you must ensure that they comply with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations, motor cars manufactured abroad must conform to USA safety, bumper, and emission standards. Both agencies have very detailed compliance requirements that can make importing a motor car or vehicle difficult, if not impossible, for some vehicles, which were not originally intended or manufactured for the USA market.

Less than 25 years old

Nonconforming motor cars or vehicles, which are less than 25 years old entering the USA must be brought into compliance, re-exported, or destroyed.

Over 25 Years old

Vehicles or motor cars over 25 years old are exempt from EPA and DOT requirements, although you must still obtain and prepare EPA and DOT paperwork & must handed to a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer in order to clear your vehicle through customs.

The Customs Border Protection (CBP) will require you to file an entry for the Motor car to receive the entry summary document CBP Form 7501. Filing an entry is initiated by declaring the car to a CBP officer when you enter the USA. It is essential that your paperwork is in order when you arrive otherwise the officer may instruct you to file the entry at a Customs Border Protection port near your residence, this could be in many cases 1-3 hours from your residence.

Without a copy of the CBP entry form, you will not be able to register the motor car in the USA.

Please note that the following information will assist your preparation.

• Please ensure you have proof of ownership, which is an original receipt, invoice, certificate, or a certified copy of the original.
• A letter from the manufacturer stating that the motor car complies to EPA and DOT standards, Unless your motor car has a label on the engine (EPA) and inside the drivers door (DOT) declaring that the car was manufactured to USA standards. Alternatively, some motor cars are listed by make, model, and year on the DOT and EPA web sites as conforming. In either instance, you will not need to produce a manufacturer's letter.
• Completed EPA form 3520-1 and DOT form HS-7

Duty

Regardless of your motor car, being new or you have owned it for 12 months or more, your motor car will be subject to pay 2.5% duty, which is assessed on the purchase price or book value.

It is illegal to bring a car into the USA and sell it without entering it through CBP. If you purchase a motor car that was brought into the USA and sold without being properly entered through CBP that motor car is subject to seizure. It is advisable not to purchase a used car in the USA (unless from a dealership) if the owner cannot prove that the motor car is registered in the USA. It is also recommended that you check that the motor car conforms to the USA road standards.

If you are importing a Truck, bus, multipurpose vehicles, trailers, motorcycles, mopeds, and motorized bicycles they will all be assessed in the same way a motor car is, this means that your vehicle will be subject to duty.

Please also note that certain imported vehicles or motor cars may be subject to Federal Tax which is a gas-guzzler tax imposed by section 4064 of the Internal Revenue Code. If an individual is importing a motor car for personal use, you may be liable for this tax.

The gas-guzzler tax is based on a combined urban/highway fuel-economy (miles per gallon) which is rated by the EPA for gas-guzzler tax purpose. This EPA rating may be different from fuel-economy ratings indicated by the manufacturer & you should check this before you start the process. If the EPA has not assigned a gas-guzzler fuel- economy rating for your motor car, a rating must be independently determined. If your motor car has a combined fuel- economy rating of at least 22.5 miles per gallon, this tax would not apply.

Re-Importing a previously exported Motor car from the United States for personal use may be returned duty free by proving to U.S. Customs that it was previously owned and registered in the United States.

This information is meant as a guide only and is correct at the time of writing however, PSS cannot accept liability for any inaccuracies in this information and we always advise our clients to check with the appropriate government departments listed on our website.

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