Importing Car into USA

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Importing Vehicles Into US

Vehicle importation into the US is a process that is quite complicated. It is therefore important that you are using the services of a professional company like Auto Moving Network. This is the only way to ensure nothing goes wrong. For instance, imported vehicles are expected to comply with certain regulations. These could be laws in line with Clean Air Act of 1968, Motor Vehicle Safety act of 1966 and others. It is expected that your vehicle must have met requirements in such laws before it can be successfully imported into the US.

Organizations Which Carry Out

Important Function In Car Importation Into US It is very necessary that you hire an international car shipping company to handle shipping of your vehicle into US. However, there are some organizations you can contact within US in order to get important information especially on aspects like regulation of air pollution control, emissions, bumper standards, and safety standards. These have to be adhered to when it comes to shipping vehicles into the country.

U.S. Customs & Border Protection

This doesn’t just ensure the country is protected from unauthorized individuals gaining access. Also, it ensures that vehicles imported into the US are monitored. They check whether people have adhered to all the necessary rules while trying to bring such vehicles into the country. When your vehicle falls short of the US standard for one reason or another, it will be exported to the country it is coming from.

US EPA

Hearing the EPA, you would be forced to start thinking about air pollution. The truth is that EPA’s functions go beyond such. For instance, it has the power to regulate importation of vehicles. It has some regulations regarding how vehicles are expected to be imported into the country. In other words, there are certain standards that have to be met. If you plan importing any car into the US, it is expected to align with regulations pertaining to air pollution emissions for vehicles.

Most vehicle imports require EPA Form 3520-1 including dissembled vehicles, kit cars, off road vehicles, motorcycles, trucks, light duty cars, motorcycle engines, and many others. Please note that this form isn’t required for vehicles that are newly imported by manufacturers. This is because there is already an EPA certificate indicating compliance with such standards.

There are some vehicles which are actually exempted from emission requirements. These could be:

Trucks & race cars
Mounted vehicles (non-chassis)
Unregulated fuel vehicles
Vehicles that have been produced before 1968 (1st of January)

U.S. National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration (NHTSA) Every vehicle that is imported into the country is expected to align with the bumper, theft prevention and safety standards. Also, vehicles that haven’t been manufactured within the US must act in accordance with motor vehicle safety standards from the federal government. This simply implies that a vehicle which isn’t older than 25years is expected to meet the motor vehicle safety standards of DOT (Department of Transportation). Bumper safety standards are expected to be complied with by vehicles which got manufactured after 1973.

Importation Of Cars Which Are Purchased In Canada Into The US

Lots of Americans at some point decided to bought cars in Canada started thinking about how such could be imported into the US. Despite Canada being very close to the US, there are standards the car is expected to meet before it can be imported. The first is that you will be expected to show some proofs that such vehicle has met all of the emissions as well as safety standards as stipulated by the United States government. As the owner, you are therefore expected to contact the vehicle manufacturer about 14-21 days prior to its date of importation. It is expected that the VIN is included.

Documentation

It is important that some documents are available to make the importation process smooth. These are documents like:

Canadian insurance card
Temporary license plate
Proof of ownership
Bill of sale which shows the VIN number

Duties

If such vehicle gets about 22.5 miles per gallon or less, “gas guzzler” fees will have to be paid. This is in addition to other taxes and fees. For your vehicle to be successfully imported into the US, duties and taxes will have to be paid at Customs. There are conditions that can enable you get exempted from duty fees though. These are:

When you are driving such vehicle into US
When such vehicle has been bought on a similar trip to Canada
When the vehicle is meant to be for private use

Classic Car Importation Into US

In most cases, antique or classic cars are not expected to meet safety and emission standards in the US. This simply implies that if you travel to Canada and purchase a classic car, there won’t be too much problem having it imported into the US. Generally speaking, importation of classic cars is the same as what applies in importing normal cars into the US. All you need to do is arrange with a professional company like Auto Moving Network for its shipping. You only need to make use of an expert shipping agent for this process to be smooth. There are different ways that a classic can be shipped into the US. These could be:

When you are driving such vehicle into US
When such vehicle has been bought on a similar trip to Canada
When the vehicle is meant to be for private use

Container

Majority of classic car owners tend to use this method due to the protection it provides. Your car will be loaded into a container and shipped to its destination. This method is quite expensive though.

RoRo

In this method of international shipping, your car will be loaded onto a carrier. Once it reaches its final destination, it will again be loaded off from the carrier. On daily basis, thousands of vehicles are being shipped using this method.

Important note

There are countries whereby sending vehicles to is prohibited for now. These are Serbia, Libya, Sudan, North Korea, Iraq, Yugoslavia, Cuba, Iran, and Afghanistan.

Preparing Your Vehicle For International Shipping

Below are some important steps you can take before your vehicle can be shipped to another country.

Ensure that the vehicle is properly cleaned. This doesn’t only protect the vehicle’s appearance but can also help to ensure dangerous pests don’t enter the US. According to The Department of Agriculture, undercarriages must be cleaned in order to get rid of foreign soil.
Clean the vehicle’s interior thoroughly. This is to ensure that there are no items that can make people vandalize such car while it is being shipped. Potential break-ins can be prevented when personal contents are removed. Most of the time, shipping companies will not accept to load your car once they notice your personal belongings are inside.
Get all the necessary paperwork available. These could be Bill of Sale, Bill of Lading, country of origin registration, proof of ownership, DOT Form HS-7 to show safety compliance, EPA Form 3520-1 to show emissions compliance and more.
Us Entry duty rates. Vehicles that are being imported into the United States are expected to pay duty fees. The rates are:

– 2.4% for motorcycles (these are exceptional cases as some don’t even have)

– 25% for large trucks

– 2.5% for automobiles