Being sold online and only made in California, with no dealer network, does anyone know if we will be hit with a huge import charge?
It's bad enough we will have the exchange rate, and the possible need to wear a helmet in Ontario, but I'm worried about this added expense! It's not the same as walking into a Chevy dealer, or a Honda dealer, or a Tesla dealer, where cause of "NAFTA (old)" the import charges are already calculated!
found a little more: (thanks everyone above!)
- A NAFTA vehicle is exempt of ANY tariffs, duties or taxes when sold in Canada, the US or Mexico.
You WOULD need to pay:
Goods & Services Tax (GST): Whenever any vehicle (new or used) is imported into Canada it is subject to a GST tax of 5%. You pay this tax immediately to Canada Customs Agents at the time of bringing the car over the border.
Provincial Sales Tax (PST): Once a vehicle is successfully imported, a provincial sales tax is payable at the time of registration in Canada.
Air Conditioning Tax: If your vehicle has air conditioning, a $100 Air Conditioning tax is also payable.
Excess Weight Tax: You will have to pay additional excise taxes if your vehicle weighs more than 2,007 kilograms or 4,425 pounds. SAFE HERE
Gas Guzzler Tax: SAFE HERE
Well, now that there are more and more automakers going without 3rd party dealers (Tesla) and now Volvo moving to a direct sales model with it's Recharge line, it's going to be interesting to see what shakes out for third party dealers.
So I don't see it being a huge deal, as long as Aptera follows through on the right to repair philosophy and the quick shipping of parts as needed.
Free trade agreements in force for Canada:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_trade_agreements_of_Canada#FIPAs_in_force
just found a website: `Borderbuddy``... After telling it is coming from US, and coming to Canada, and Made in Us, and HAS Air Conditining (?), the major expense seems to be HST (of course!!!)
On a $35,000 USD cost of Aptera , fees would be $6610 CAD (13% Hst=$5764)
So that is a little reassuring. Still an added cost. But not as bad as I expected.
Probably no duty with the USMCA, (the "new" NAFTA), but it might not be legal to import into Canada unless it meets the Canadian Highway Transportation requirements. That's something I don't know if anyone at this time can confirm.
In Canada I don't think there are any duties or tariffs on vehicles made in the US...