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Tariffs?! CPTPP for your import from Japan to Canada

What is CPTPP?

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is a multilateral free trade agreement between 11 countries aimed at enhancing economic integration across the Asia-Pacific region. It promotes trade liberalization by reducing tariffs, fostering investment, and improving regulatory coherence among member nations.  The CPTPP evolved from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) after the United States withdrew from the agreement in 2017. The remaining members renegotiated and signed the CPTPP in 2018.

Member Countries:  Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam

So how does the CPTPP affect you importing a car from Japan? Normally a 6.1% tariff is collected for importing a vehicle into Canada, however, if the vehicle is a Japanese brand (ie Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mitsubishi, etc) you can file a “Certificate of Origin” along with your import documentation to have this reduced to 0% (Slight caveat for mini trucks, they are only partially reduced to 2.2%).  That is a savings of $1,220 for a $20,000 car!

Filling Out The Certificate of Origin

You can download the fillable PDF form here.

In the first section, select “Importer” since you are the one importing the vehicle and submitting this form.

For Section 2, fill in today’s date in the “From:” and for the “To:” you can just set it arbitrarily to a date that is a month away.

Section 3 will be your Name, Address, Country, Phone and Email.

Section 4 is the car manufacturer’s information.  We have gathered the major brands’ info below.  Just copy and paste the manufacturer info into the form.

TOYOTA MOTOR Corp.
1 Toyotacho, Toyota, Aichi 471-8571, Japan
Tel:+81-(0)5-6528-2121

Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
2354 Tomita, Yorii, Osato District, Saitama 369-1216, Japan
Tel: +81-(0)3-3423-1111

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
1-1, Takashima 1-chome, Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 220-8686, Japan
Tel: +81(0)45-523-5523

SUBARU CORPORATION
1-1-11, Yonan, Utsunomiya-shi, Tochigi 320-8564
Tel: +81-28-684-7777

MITSUBISHI MOTORS CORPORATION
3 Chome-1-21 Shibaura, Minato City, Tokyo 108-0023, Japan
Tel: +81(0)3-3456-1111

DAIHATSU MOTOR CO., LTD.
1-1 Daihatsu-cho, Ikeda-shi, Osaka 563-0044
Tel: +81(0)72-751-8811

Section 5 is the information about the exporter, and if you have purchased your vehicle from Japan Car Direct, then you will need to put our information in this section.  You can find our info here:

Japan Car Direct LLC
2-10-16-2 TENDAI, INAGE KU CHIBA CITY, CHIBA JAPAN, 263-0016
+81 43 206 1864

Section 6 will be the same as section 3, go ahead and fill this out with your information.

Section 7 is the description of the goods being imported and here it will contain information specific to your vehicle.  This is the format that we recommend.

Description
Year Make Model
Chasis/VIN number

Example:
Used Motor Vehicle
2009 TOYOTA ESTIMA
ACR50-0099231

Section 8 is the HS classification number.  The HS is a standardized system for classifying traded products, used by customs authorities worldwide to identify products and determine applicable duties and taxes.  You can checkout the full documentation here.

The HS code is a six-digit number, with the first two digits indicating the product category (chapter), and the next four digits indicating the subcategory.

First 2 digit for your JDM vehicle will be 87 which indicates that it is a motor vehicle.

The 3rd/4th digit will depend on the type of vehicle.

  • 8702 Motor vehicles for the transport of ten or more persons, including the driver.
  • 8703 Motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport of persons (other than those of heading 8702).
  • 8704 Motor vehicles for the transport of goods.  Kei trucks belongs in this category.
  • 8705 Special purpose vehicles such as fire trucks


The 5th/6th digit is a bit more detailed, see below to see which category your car falls under.

8702

8702.10 Equipped with diesel engine
8702.20 Equipped with hybrid diesel engine
8702.30 Equipped with hybrid gasoline engine
8702.40 Equipped with electric motor only
8702.90 All others

8703

8703.21 Equipped with engine smaller than or equal to 1,000cc
8703.22 Equipped with engine between 1,000cc and 1,500cc
8703.23 Equipped with engine between 1,500cc and 3,000cc
8703.24 Equipped with engine greater than 3,000cc
8703.40 Equipped with non-plugin hybrid gasoline engine
8703.50 Equipped with non-plugin hybrid diesel engine
8703.60 Equipped with plugin hybrid gasoline engine
8703.70 Equipped with plugin hybrid diesel engine
8703.80 Equipped with electric motor only

8704

8704.21 Equipped with diesel engine, G.V.W. not exceeding 5 tonnes
8704.22 Equipped with diesel engine, G.V.W. exceeding 5 tonnes but not exceeding 20 tonnes
8704.23 Equipped with diesel engine, G.V.W. exceeding 20 tonnes
8704.31 Equipped with gasoline engine, G.V.W. not exceeding 5 tonnes
8704.32 Equipped with gasoline engine, G.V.W. exceeding 5 tonnes
8704.41 Equipped with diesel hybrid, G.V.W. not exceeding 5 tonnes
8704.42 Equipped with diesel hybrid, G.V.W. exceeding 5 tonnes but not exceeding 20 tonnes
8704.43 Equipped with diesel hybrid, G.V.W exceeding 20 tonnes
8704.51 Equipped with gasoline hybrid, G.V.W. not exceeding 5 tonnes
8704.52 Equipped with gasoline hybrid, G.V.W. exceeding 5 tonnes
8704.60 Equipped with electric motor only

8705

8705.30 Fire fighting vehicles

In Section 9, fill in “PSR” to indicate that the good is produced in the territory of one or more of the Parties using non-originating materials provided the good satisfies the relevant Product Specific Rule of Origin

Sign and date the document at the bottom and send it along with all the other documents that you receive from us to your import broker.  

By the way, we highly recommend Al over at Thompson Pacific Logistics, they know the ins and outs of the whole process and they will get your car through customs smoothly. 

Thompson Pacific Logistics LTD
Attn: Al Thompson
130-3751 Shell Rd
Richmond BC V6X 2W2
Phone: +1 604 889 4731
Email: ALT@THOMPSONLOGISTICS.COM
Website: http://thompsonlogistics.com