What it actually costs to import a car from Japan
The Japanese asking price is roughly two thirds of what a car costs to put on your driveway. These are the other lines, and they are the same figures our calculator uses when it quotes a car — not estimates written for a web page.
Leaving Japan
| Export agent fee | ¥75,000 |
|---|---|
| Sourcing fee | 5% of the car, minimum $1,500 |
| Acquisition fee | 3% of the car |
| Inland transport, dealer to port | $250 |
The export agent fee covers deregistration, the radiation test, port transfer and the export certificate. The sourcing and acquisition fees cover finding the car, reading the sheet, negotiating and buying through the agent in Japan.
Why the sourcing fee has a floor. Sourcing a car is the same work whatever it costs — finding it, checking the sheet, negotiating, buying through the agent. A straight percentage charged $150 to do a job on a cheap kei truck that costs far more than that to do, and made cheap cars look artificially attractive against good ones. Cars bought directly from the dealers we work with carry a flat $1,500 instead, with no acquisition fee, because there is no open-market sourcing effort involved.
Crossing the ocean
RoRo — the car is driven on and driven off, rather than sealed in a container.
| Tacoma / Seattle, WA | $1,500 · 12 days |
|---|---|
| Long Beach / Los Angeles, CA | $1,550 · 14 days |
| Oakland, CA | $1,600 · 15 days |
| Houston / Galveston, TX | $2,050 · 24 days |
| Jacksonville, FL | $2,150 · 26 days |
| Baltimore, MD | $2,250 · 28 days |
| Newark / New York, NY | $2,300 · 30 days |
Marine insurance is 0.6% of the car's value with a $150 minimum. It is optional and we recommend it — a car lost at sea without cover is a total loss to you, not to the shipping line.
Entering the United States
| US customs duty | 12.5% of value |
|---|---|
| Harbor Maintenance Fee | 0.125% |
| Merchandise Processing Fee | 0.3464% ($32–$614) |
| Importer Security Filing (10+2) | $75 |
| Customs bond | $150 |
| Customs broker | $395 |
| Terminal handling, dock & TWIC escort | $450 |
What is not in the figure
The quote stops at the US port. Onward delivery to your door varies too much by destination and carrier to estimate honestly, so it is arranged and quoted separately. State titling and registration are yours to pay, and they differ by state.
Every car on this site carries its own landed cost, worked out with these figures at the current exchange rate. Start from a model page and open any listing to see the whole number before you commit to anything.
Frequently asked
How much does it cost to import a car from Japan to the USA?
On top of the car's Japanese price, budget for Japanese export paperwork and transport, a sourcing fee, ocean freight of roughly $1,500 to $2,300 depending on the port, marine insurance, US customs duty at 12.5% of the vehicle value, and clearance fees of around $1,100. The calculator on our site works the exact figure for any car listed.
What is the import duty on a car from Japan?
US customs duty is 12.5% of the vehicle's value. Separately there is a Harbor Maintenance Fee of 0.125% and a Merchandise Processing Fee of 0.3464%, the latter with a floor of about $32 and a ceiling of about $614.
How long does shipping from Japan take?
RoRo transit runs about 12 to 15 days to West Coast ports and 24 to 30 days to the East Coast and Gulf. That is ocean time only, before Japanese export processing and US clearance.