Importing a car to USA doesn’t have to be too complex. This is not all my own work. I received a lot of information from 2 friends who had done this successfully. Also I should add a disclaimer. This is just my own personal experience and any use of this information is at your own risk. Requirements and rules can and do change. You are completely responsible for doing your own research.
This is from my experience of importing Eeyore the 1997 MGF.
Background #
A car that was never sold in the USA will not have emissions (EPA) or safety (DOT) certificates. However, after a car is 25 years old, there are exemptions available. It is under the 25 year exemption that I imported the 1997 MGF from Canada. This potential, for personal use, is explained by Customs and Border Protection (CBP). So, coming across a land border from Canada requires various forms. Plan on spending some time with the Customs and Border Protection officers to complete the process. Having limited time at the border, or being on a schedule, will not end well.
At The Border #
When you reach the CBP/Passport checkpoint let them know that you have something to declare, e.g. the car you are importing. You may well be sent to CBP for secondary screening and questions about the vehicle. Do not confuse this with the import process and the forms you will need to complete the import process and pay any import duty.
This secondary check is all about making sure you’re really importing the vehicle and also to make sure you’re not smuggling anything else in the vehicle into the country. Although this might sound silly, it’s not. Take this very seriously and be sure that everything in the vehicle is indeed yours. Be sure there’s nothing in the vehicle that you don’t know what it is or how it got there. After clearing this secondary screening, you will proceed to the CBP area where they deal with the import and duty processes using the forms I am describing below.
Forms #
As you may notice from the above CBP information link, you will need two forms. In fact you need three! The form that this CBP information doesn’t mention is the CBP Form 7501: Entry Summary. So you can be nicely prepared if you have all three forms completed and ready in advance. You can use this jump link to look at blank PDF forms if you want.
HS7 Dept of Transport National Highway Traffic Safety Administration #
The HS7 form is the most simple! It’s available to download from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website. At the time of writing this is a direct link to the PDF version of the HS7 form.
Other than checking box number 1 (over 25 years) you will need to complete the basic information about the car. Note that some of the items at the top of the form are not all necessary when box 1 is selected.
3520-1 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) #
A little bit more involved than the HS7 but not really scary. For the EPA, you will be using the exemption option. So this means box E. Other than box E you will need to answer the majority of the numbered questions. These shouldn’t need additional explanation but I have provide a few pointers for some of these.
- Port Code #1: This will be a numeric code for the port of entry, e.g. for Port Huron MI this is 3802
- Customs Entry Number #3: Unnecessary or CBP will add it
- Manufacture Date #5: This should be the Month and Year of manufacture. This may be different from when the car was registered
- Owner #11: Name and address, suggest using the names you plan to have on a title or other state ownership document
- Numbers 12 and 15 should not need any data entered
- Check the “Code E” box for the vehicle being at least 21 years old.
7501 Customs and Border Protection (CBP) #
The 7501 form is not only the one they don’t really tell you about its the most daunting/complex. However, with some pointers this doesn’t need to be a big issue. In my case although I had prepared form 7501, I left it in the car. The CBP officer gave me a copy of a prior form someone had submitted to use as a template. Combined with what I had seen from friends’ forms, it was fine. It will be better to get the PDF version of form 7501 and type/complete it in advance.
A few pointers
- Leave blank
- 11
- Blank
- Blank
- Blank
- Port Code is a 4-digit code for the specific port or entry, for example Port Huron MI is 3802
- Blank
- Blank
- Self – assumes you are personally driving the car over
- UK (if an MG or other British car)
- Import date will be the actual date you cross over, so be sure to match this to your actual date
- Blank
- Blank
- Canada – assuming you are purchasing car registered in Canada
- Same date as #11 so make sure these dates match
- Blank
- Blank
- Blank
- The Foreign Port of Lading is the location of the registration of the car in Canada, for example Toronto Ontario
- The US Port of Unlading is the location where the car will end up, so your town and state in the USA
- Blank
- Blank
- Blank
- Blank
- Consignee – your full name and address
- Importer – your full name and address
The remaining items are best shown by way of a picture. For item 32 you enter the value of the vehicle – I have redacted this and you’ll also see I redacted the VIN for my vehicle. After this check the appropriate boxes in the declaration (item 36) and fill in the details for item 41 and leave 42 and 43 blank.

Other Documents #
At the risk of stating the obvious you will also want:
- Bill of Sale/Invoice
- The Canadian Permit for the car, this is somewhat like a title document in the US states
- You may want to have a document of details to prove the date of manufacture. This is optional and could be something like a “heritage certificate” from the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust or in the case of an MGF from the MG Car Club’s MGF Register.
- Any other supporting documents that may be available from the seller that have the history or details of the car and how it was imported to Canada, for example
Blank PDF Examples #
Please use the below PDF’s only to orient yourself with the information provided above. You should always source the most recent versions directly from the relevant government department websites using the links above.
HS7 Dept of Transport National Highway Traffic Safety Administration #
3520-1 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) #
7501 Customs and Border Protection (CBP) #
Other Materials #
I’ve built this website and spent time on the knowledge base to bring together a lot of information I have collected from around the internet. The intent is making it easy to find rather than having to know about and have skills with search engine query terms to get what you were looking for. Please make use of the knowledge base.