In the last few weeks, West Coast Shipping has received four requests to ship a car or motorcycle home from the United States at the end of a North American road trip. In each case the vehicle had entered the US by road from Canada or Mexico, and in each case US Customs would not approve it for export by container. The missing document was the same every time: CBP Form 7501, the entry record a vehicle receives only when it is formally imported.
Shipping your own vehicle to North America for a long drive is a popular way to see the continent, and the trips themselves rarely cause problems. The difficulty appears at the end, when the owner is ready to send the vehicle home. This article explains what went wrong in the four cases, why the owners' paperwork did not resolve it, and how to plan a trip that ends with the vehicle on a ship.
The vehicles and routes were different. The outcome was not.
None of the four could be loaded into a container, because none had a US entry record for the vehicle.
Exporting a vehicle by ocean from the United States requires approval from US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at the port of export. For a vehicle that is not US-titled, the export regulations in 19 CFR 192.2 call for two things: the foreign title or registration, and evidence that the vehicle legally entered the United States. That evidence is the CBP Form 7501 Entry Summary, filed when a vehicle is formally imported.
A vehicle that arrives at a US seaport and clears customs receives a 7501. A vehicle driven across a land border by a visitor usually does not. The officer admits the traveller, sometimes stamps the passport, and no entry record is created for the vehicle.
For the purpose of entering the country, that is correct. One of the four owners received a written reply from a CBP supervisor at an Alaska port of entry: visitors are not required to import their vehicles when they come for tourism, so the vehicle does not need to be exported, and CBP cannot issue a 7501 after the fact.
The statement is accurate as far as it goes. A vehicle admitted this way can be driven back out the way it came in. Exporting it by ocean container is a separate process, approved by the CBP office at the port of export, and that office requires proof of entry. The two offices apply different rules, and both are following them correctly.
Owners understandably present everything they have: the purchase contract, the registration certificate, the foreign title, inspection certificates, the bill of lading from the original shipment and their passport stamps. For export purposes, none of it establishes legal entry.
US Customs cannot verify documents issued by a foreign government. If foreign papers alone were accepted, a stolen US vehicle could be given foreign documents, presented as an import and shipped out of the country. CBP therefore treats foreign documents as supporting evidence only. They assist the case, but they do not prove that this vehicle legally entered the United States. A passport stamp records the traveller's entry, not the vehicle's.
The options are limited, and we prefer to state that clearly rather than let an owner rely on one of them.
After-the-fact filings that occasionally succeeded a few years ago are no longer dependable. CBP practice has tightened, and we advise clients on the basis of current practice rather than past exceptions.
If your trip will end with the vehicle going home by sea or air from a US port, make that decision before the vehicle leaves home.
CBP Form 7501, the Entry Summary, is the US Customs record created when goods, including a vehicle, are formally imported into the United States. It records the importer, the vehicle, its declared value and the duties paid.
Usually not by ocean container. CBP at the port of export requires evidence that the vehicle legally entered the US, normally a CBP Form 7501, and a vehicle driven in by a visitor generally has no entry record. The dependable alternative is to drive it back across the same border and ship from there.
Generally no. Entry is filed at the time of import. Some CBP export offices will consider creating a record if every document is presented in person, but none is obliged to.
No. CBP treats foreign documents as supporting evidence only, because it cannot verify documents issued by another government.
Import it formally through a US seaport, with a customs bond and the EPA and DOT paperwork for a temporary import, so that it receives a CBP Form 7501. At the end of the trip, that record allows the vehicle to be exported by ocean or air.
West Coast Shipping ships door to door by ocean and air from our own warehouses in California, Florida and New Jersey, covering all of the US for imports and exports. Our own team loads every vehicle and handles every document. Tell us your route and we will plan the import side so the vehicle can be shipped home when the trip is over. Contact us before you ship, or get a rate with our online car shipping calculator.
It's your dream car. Let's bring her home.