Tariff on Roadtrek in the US ?

[wanderer]

If I buy a Sprinter based Roadtrek B-van (Canadian made) in the US is there an import duty to pay?

Because of the foriegn (german) content of the vehicle I don't believe it qualifies for NAFTA.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks

[Altered Sprinter]

Wanderer
Your request for information re duty of buying a vehicle in Canada for export to the US is a grey area, as the American dollar buys at the better rate than the Lonnie, protection is put in place to stop cross boarder transactions, if you check out the NAFTA sites it will explain this in detail .
Richard
PS your also going to have a heck of a time getting warranty as well.

[kkanuck]

Richard,

Thats Loonie (after the bird... Loon)........not Lonnie.......just in case.....

[BaywoodBill]

Please clarify the original question. Do you mean that you reside in the US and want to buy a Candadian-built RV from a US dealer?

If that's the case, no problem. At least 3 of the popular Sprinter Bs are built in Canada.
They are sold in the US just like any other foreign-built vehicle.

Yet, if you are a Canada resident interested in buying a Canada-built vehicle from a US dealer.... why?

[wanderer]

I'll clarify.

If I live in the US, and buy a Canadian made Roadtrek, will I have to pay duty?

Keep in mind that NAFTA only provides duty free trade if 62% ( ? ) of the vehicle content originates in north america.

Hope this clarification helps and thanks for any replies.

[Altered Sprinter]

Hi wanderer
Interesting on this question as I spent a few months in April last year for a client in the Canadian sector who wanted the opposite US to Canada but lived in Alberto.
NAFTA have links to the European transparency commission over this that dates back to 1995 where cross boarder transactions between Mercedes Benz were eventually fined millions of Euros over breaking the free trade agreement b and price fixing between boarders on the N/American sector.
Warranty transfer was another issue as well.
One if you are a resident of the USA with a fixed address to any of the US States, this is how it works
If you purchase a vehicle in Canada to bring this vehicle into the USA thetre is tax , the tax or import duties vary between states as fees are not standardized in the USA, the vehicle also has to meet Federal DOT regulations as well so some minor changes to the vehicle have to be made. such as engine stickers being relocated Bumper ratings! not an issue but the bumper brackets may be subject to investigation , Canada has a higher rating than the US so that if it came up would comply emission standards are similar however strange things can happen there I've seen the same thing with HONDA. you also will not be able to have either warranty in the US which means it has to go back to Canada for warranty repairs as the original warranty is not transferable from Canada to the States due to a higher warranty period with Canada where the US has a lesser warranty unless you option to the higher imposts.
Its referred to as a Grey area as your dollar is worth more than the Canadian dollar you have an advantage in buying cheaper in Canada with many makes Mercedes is an excellent example one you don't pay local tax and B because you can not get warranty transferee into the states you can negotiate a better price without a warranty, however if everyone did this there would be a flood of imports coming into America this would devastate the American auto economy, so both Governments turn a blind eye to it its not encouraged and can be expensive converting metric speed odometer into an imperial one, changing emission standards that comply to the top five US states as well the list is long and varied, some are not allowed into the USA such as the Smart vehicles unless you are a resident of the Canadian sector.
in the late to early 2000 year this was the reverse where Americans were going to the Canadian side to buy 20000 thousand vehicles slipped in and even now there is a back log of claims as many were stolen vehicles re birthed and sold of in canada only to turn up in the US with the original VIN numbers that showed up stolen or under finance which meant the Finance company was the original owner.
Canada last year was again trying to do what I think you are attempting to do.If your after a Sprinter that is a Canadian RV camper it has distributors in the USA , the company has special import export provisions with both Government's to manufacture for export back into the USA in buying the said vehicle in the US you have warranty and it can be serviced and the warranty can be honored in Canada under a bill of exchange via the DCX group between dealers in the N/American Continent, but not the other way around.
Legally you can buy in Canada and you can arrange a third party insurer to have a warranty on the vehicle it will cost you around three to four thousand over a three year period for warranty repairs this is done via an export broker in Canada or in the USA.
I can site three cases last year where residents in Canada went to the USA and purchased Sprinters and brought them back into Canada saving over seven thousand dollars They registered the vehicle in the US by using relatives address DCX have officially said do not sell to Canadians or risk losing franchisees its as simple as that the threat was enough to stop dealers from moving stock its illegal but that how the game is played by large corporations.
It will be very interesting to see how the numbers move this year in Canada and the US with overall sales if they exceed 72000 vehicles then Canada has to have an equal price to their vehicles as in the US not including sales tax or dealer charges warranty between Canada and the US is different so the difference on average should never exceed two thousand dollars on average, the only time The European commission can act on this price fixing and Warranty issues to cross boarder transaction is by the number of vehicles sold this was set in 1991 the first complaint has to be lodged via the NFTA committee before any action can commence it takes up to five years to get it into the worlds Courts for a judgment to to be set.
If what I assume you want to purchase a RV in Canada to save dollars , you can do it legally but expect problems from doing it and how much is your time worth?
Richard

[wanderer]

Actually I was inquiring about buying a Roadtrek from a US dealer.

Will there be a tariff to pay?

[Altered Sprinter]

wanderer My apologizes, I just assumed you were trying to purchase in Canada.
You have dealer delivery fees and local sales tax if buying within your own state, , because there is what is referred to as a secondary manufactures compliance plate.
Canadian manufactures have an exemption for resale back into the states and to be honest I can't remember how it actually works,under the free trade agreements between canada and the US I'd assume you have a certain amount of tax built into the labor components , but overall it should be tariff free of extra taxes, back freighting would add to the cost and maybe export paperwork on the Canadian side, would increase the overall price slightly.
added dealers margins again increase pricing unless the dealership is owned by Roadtreck or for example its a franchise where he can set his own margins, there should be references to this under the NAFTA program in index for cross boarder transactions.Maybe some other member closer to your area can help.
I'll check tomorrow to see if I can find the info if no one else can help. out of curiosity Why did you want to know! Or is it because of price differences in Canada and your area of dealership.that has you thinking:thinking:
Richard
Frequently Asked Questions and Answers - The North American Free ... (http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/nafta-alena/questions-en.asp)
Confidentiality (http://www.cbp.gov/nafta/confident.htm)
Duties (Tariff Elimination) and Fees (http://www.cbp.gov/nafta/dutyfees.htm)
North American Automobile Trade Association (http://www.naata.org/new%20files/import2.html)

[wanderer]

Actually my curiosity from the pricing I see on US dealer's lots. Some dealers say there is no tariff in the pricing, others are not so certain.

To shed more light on the cross border discussion. If the chassis had a US port of entry the US duty will most likely have been paid at that time. I believe it would then be able to cross the borders with no additional duty.

If, on the other hand, the chassis had a Canadian port of entry the subject of duty comes in question if the unit is sold in the US market.

[Don Horner]

Let's put it this way -- if there is a tariff or duty, someone else is paying it and it's subsequently buried in the price one pays a dealer in the U.S. There is no line item on your invoice for "Duty".

[BaywoodBill]

In the first place I speculated that you are a US resident desiring to buy an RV from a US dealer. That's why I wrote that there are at least 3 Sprinter B RVs made in Canada and you can compare any of them with those that are converted in the US and decide for yourself if the prices are high enought to hide a tarriff.