I'm just a simple country lawyer. When the CBP guy says it's about safety, I tend to take him at his word. And he did say it was about safety. A lot.
Click
here for information from CBP on how to import your new foreign-built truck into the United States. Pay the 25% import tax and make sure that it is compliant with all the safety and emission regs of the last forty years and you're good to go.
These folks did this to get around the 25% tax. Yes, they broke the law. The law is dumb. CBP made this out to be a safety issue. It is not. And it is an insult for them to say that it is.
B
Crap.
Now I'm involved in that flame war.
Not sure why, but I'll respond. Some posts are so inane that they elicit a response as your posts clearly have.
First you state the importer/owner attempted to avoid a 25% tax. Nothing could be further from reality. These guys would happily pay a 25% tax if they could have a new (far safer)defender which is legally impossible as Rover refuses to install airbags in them for obvious reasons- ie the vehicles intended use by the majority of purchasers around the world. For this reason no defender made after the end of the 1997 model year can be imported into the US (ie when airbags became mandatory). Import duty on a used vehicle beyond a certain age is 2.5% not 25. IE duty on a $4Ok truck is only $1000. None of this has anything to due with collecting tax revenue.
Second the trucks being imported are for the most part 25yrs old which by our laws are EPA and DOT exempt. Customs is seizing trucks for things like safer doors, updated seat belts, rear disc brake conversions from drums, updated safer seats, updated safer glass etc. They can legally deny entry to any truck that has had any of the above upgrades, and do @ DOT's insistence as that is the letter of the law. Many new owners who unwittingly purchase trucks with these modifications that have been made over the past three decades have no idea they are breaking the law by attempting to import trucks with these minimal modifications that make their trucks considerably safer then an all original 25-30 year old 110. In many instances the original part supercedes in the parts manuals to the newer improved part. EPA similarly has the power to refuse entry to a truck that left the factory as a 2.5 liter diesel and enters as a 2.5 liter diesel if the original 30 year old engine threw a rod @ some point and was replaced with what is now a 21 year old 2.5 liter land rover diesel with the primary difference being that the injectors fire directly into the combustion chamber resulting in far better emissions and higher fuel economy. That's right, a 21yr old land rover diesel engine that bolts right up with zero modification in place of a 25 yr old land rover diesel engine that burns cleaner is illegal.
Third- you believe that the truck pictured in the video which clearly had a 1989 vintage engine, a 1984 registration, 1988 vintage doors, early 90's vintage roof, and a mixture of parts of other vintages was crushed because it was unsafe
and that it was crushed because it was a new truck trying to avoid a 25% tariff ( the newest Defender that can be imported into the US is a 1997 manufactured before mid August of that model year). Which do you actually believe ? I ask because you contradict yourself. I cant figure out if you are a hypocrite or simply playing protagonist. Last I checked "simple country lawyers" have access to the same internet, periodicals, govt regulations etc that those in major metropolitan areas have access to, so country doesn't connote misinformed.
You aren't seeing the big picture if you believe this was a safety or tax issue.
Since you can't/haven't figured it out on your own, I'll explain it for you. Jaguar Land Rover North America is very much involved in these seizures. Customs inspects each truck upon arrival into the US. They take pictures of all aspects of the vehicle and send these pictures to EPA/DOT and Land Rover North America. Land Rover North America has designated employee's who pour over these photographs and point out each and every upgrade made to the antique vehicle. DOT then takes this list of modifications and decides whether or not to instruct Customs to deny entry.
Why you ask would a manufacturer go to such lengths to try to squash enthusiasts importing a product line that they as a manufacturer have decided to ignore in the worlds largest and most affluent marketplace ? Because of the prices these trucks are bringing and the perceived market segment loss they are experiencing. Wake up and smell, or better yet, drink the coffee......
So the cliff notes version is this hasn't a damn thing to do with the general populace's safety nor does it have to do with tax revenue on individual imports. What its all about is that a major automotive manufacturer is pissed and is waist deep with assets dedicated to helping our government enforce the absolute letter of the law to this specific model of their own product.
