Fly and Ship to Avoid Tariff?

[nc_beagle]

This isn't a Ram specific question but I don't belong to any message boards that would be more appropriate.

I know companies like Volvo and probably Porsche used to have a program where you'd fly over to the plant to buy your car, drive it around the country (make it a vacation) and then ship it home. If that's still going on, would it be a way to avoid a tariff? Going this route, are you technically "importing" it or just shipping personal property?

I'm not in the market for any vehicles, but it popped into my head and I'd like to know the answer.

 

[John Kloehr]

I think most of not all of the manufacturer programs were dropped. It used to be possible to order a US spec BMW for pickup in Germany. And import after driving it some number of miles. BMW dropped this program about 5 years ago IIRC.

I do not know if tariffs would apply to an individually imported used vehicle, but as a general outline I did find this document:

https://artemusgroupusa.com/importing-a-car-from-germany-to-usa/#:~:text=Import%20Duty:%20Upon%20arrival%2C%20you,the%20car's%20dutiable%20value%E2%80%8B.

 

[mikeru82]

This isn't a Ram specific question but I don't belong to any message boards that would be more appropriate.

I know companies like Volvo and probably Porsche used to have a program where you'd fly over to the plant to buy your car, drive it around the country (make it a vacation) and then ship it home. If that's still going on, would it be a way to avoid a tariff? Going this route, are you technically "importing" it or just shipping personal property?

I'm not in the market for any vehicles, but it popped into my head and I'd like to know the answer.

Audi dropped this as well. Two years ago were going to purchase a car from Audi, fly over to pick it up at the factory in Germany, and use it for a vacation through Europe instead of renting a car. Then ship it home. I've talked to people who have done this and I thought it sounded like a cool thing to do. But that was no longer an option for us. We ended up renting a car for that vacation.

As far as tariffs go it might depend on whether you're trying to import a car that was made for another domestic market or if the car was made to USDM specs and you picked it up in a foreign country. Maybe it doesn't matter but to me it seems like it should.

 

[Quint]

As I understand importing, whomever you work with for the logistics will have to go through customs. They will pay the fees, taxes, and tariffs on your behalf and then you compensate the logistics company for their work and all payments incurred on your behalf.