A Tampa Customs Broker Explains Importing Car from Canada

Are you a Canadian that prefers to spend the winter months in the Southern USA to enjoy the warmer weather? Have you have wondered if you could bring a car or camper with you and leave it here instead of dealing with the hassle of driving it back and forth? The answer is yes. You can bring your vehicle with you for personal use during your stay in the USA.Tampa_sunshine

In order to import a vehicle of any kind from Canada, you will need to clear it through the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The CBP uses the standard set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) when clearing a car to enter the USA from Canada.

The basic guidelines required for importing a car from Canada include:

  1. Meeting all standards put in place by the Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 and Emission standards as put in place by the EPA.(usually those are stickers that could be found either under the hood or the driver side door.
  2. If both stickers are Not on the vehicle, therefore we will need to obtain a letter from the manufacturer stating that the car is compliant with the US standards of safety and emissions.
  3. If you have driven the vehicle yourself from Canada to the US, remember to keep notes of the City, State and the Date of crossing. If it was arranged by a trucking company make sure you get that information from them as well as their company name, Original Bill of Lading, Canadian registration with the Seller address on it, Bill of Sale (if applicable) and any documents pertaining to the vehicle.

While you are able to import a car from Canada for your personal use, the process can be intimidating and confusing. That is why it is important to contact an experienced Tampa Customs Broker “Eduardo A Arecco, CHB” who can relieve you from all the stress that could come with the process.

Our Job is to make you enjoy that beautiful weather you come down here for and leave the importing process for us to deal with.

Feel free to call us anytime 24/7, we are always eager to help, and we promise not to charge you anything for all the questions that we know you will have for us.