Importing Vehicles and Engines into the U.S.
Importing Canadian Vehicles
Canadian vehicles are certified to Canadian requirements and originally manufactured for sale in Canada, regardless of the country in which they were produced. While many are manufactured to be identical to U.S. certified vehicles with respect to emission requirements (especially beginning with the 1988 model year), they may be manufactured with or without a U.S. emissions compliance label identifying them as conforming to U.S. EPA requirements. Canadian vehicles imported into the U.S. are categorized as either identical to U.S. version vehicles or not identical to U.S. version vehicles with regard to emission requirements.
Importers need to verify whether the Canadian vehicle they are importing is identical to a U.S. certified version. For model year 2002 and beyond, the majority of Canadian vehicles are acceptable for importation into the U.S. without modification. There may be specific models that are Canadian-only packages that are not eligible for importation into the U.S. Any questions about Canadian-only models will be treated on a case-by-case basis. (Refer to options 2 and 3 below).
A Canadian vehicle is identical to a U.S. certified version if one of the following is true:
1. The Canadian vehicle is on the EPA list of vehicles considered to be identical to U.S. version vehicles. This list is only for 2001 and earlier model year Canadian motor vehicles. For 2002 and later model year Canadian motor vehicles, refer to option 3. Detailed information for each year follows:
2.The Canadian vehicle has an emission label stating it is certified to U.S. EPA Federal emission standards.
3.The manufacturer’s U.S. representative has provided a letter of compliance that states the vehicle complies with all U.S. EPA Federal regulations. Generally, EPA only accepts compliance information from the Original Equipment Manufacturer's (OEM) U.S. representative. However, as an exception to this rule, statements of conformity from the OEM Canadian representative will be acceptable to EPA as evidence of conformity. U.S. Customs and Boarder Protection (CBP) may request the importer to submit a letter of compliance from the manufacturer, even if the vehicle is determined by EPA to be identical to a U.S. certified version by one of the two options above. You will also needto contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for their import regulations.
If the Canadian vehicle is not identical to a U.S. certified version, please refer to section 2.1.2.2, "Canadian Vehicles Not Identical to U.S. Version Vehicles", and section 2.1.3, "Non-U.S. Version Vehicles", in the Procedures for Importing Vehicles and Engines manual.