Ship a car, container or machinery from the USA to Taiwan

If you have been reading our pages on Hong Kong, Singapore and Macau and getting discouraged, start here. Taiwan is the exception. Taiwanese import rules do not merely tolerate left-hand drive, they require it: the import regulation code that applies to vehicles reads "only for steering wheel on left side." A US-spec car is the correct orientation, not the problem. What stands between you and a registered car in Taiwan is paperwork and tax, and both are knowable in advance.

Left-hand drive is required, not merely allowed

The code carries a narrow proviso for oversized units: vehicles over 150 metric tons gross weight, wider than 3.5 meters or taller than 5.6 meters must be marked on the declaration as not eligible for licence plates or temporary permits, and are not permitted on public roads. That is about heavy industrial machinery, not cars.

One honest caveat. We read the regulation code itself and its wording is unambiguous, but the Taiwanese classification lookup that maps codes to specific tariff lines was not reachable, so we could not independently verify the code against the passenger car tariff line. Have your Taiwanese customs broker confirm the code against your exact commodity classification before you commit. We would rather tell you where our research stopped than imply it went further.

Used cars: allowed, approved one at a time

Taiwan permits used car imports. The law contemplates them directly: the Regulations Governing Vehicle Type Safety Approval name "vehicles already licensed and used abroad but not scrapped" as a recognized category, and Customs publishes a standing tax guide specifically for imported used cars.

What changes for a used car is the approval route. A new vehicle can ride on a type approval. A previously registered vehicle has to be put through small-batch safety approval one car at a time. The regulations say so explicitly: vehicles already licensed abroad must be processed vehicle by vehicle rather than as a batch.

There is a condition on that, with an exception that matters to you. Normally a used previously registered vehicle must be of a model for which a Taiwanese test or review report already exists. The exception is where the vehicle is imported by a government body, organization, school or an individual for their own use. That exception is the practical route for a one-off American car going to a private buyer, and it is why personal imports work in Taiwan where a dealer importing an unusual model might struggle.

On age limits, we are going to be straight with you. We found no Taiwanese authority page stating a maximum age for an imported used car, and we found no authority page stating that there is none. We are not going to publish a number we could not source. Have your broker confirm the position for your specific vehicle.

The tax stack, with real numbers

Taiwan publishes its vehicle tax arithmetic clearly, which is a relief after some of the other markets in this region. Everything runs off the duty-paying value, which is FOB plus freight plus insurance, in other words CIF.

Commodity tax on trucks, large buses and other vehicles is 15%, and motorcycles 17%. Electric and hybrid vehicles are taxed at half those rates, hybrids only where they meet the standards the Ministry of Finance announces.

How Customs values an American used car. This part is unusual and worth knowing. Where there is no same-model-year new car price to work from, Taiwanese Customs values North American imports by comparing Kelley Blue Book invoice-based values against J.D. Power average trade-in values, and using the lower of the two. Modified and hand-built cars are excluded from that method and are handled separately.

Depreciation. Customs applies a published schedule based on the years between the model year and the year of arrival:

There is no duty exemption for a returning national. Taichung Customs states it plainly: since 1 January 2002 all imported cars regardless of model year use the same duty calculation, and no duty-exemption regulations apply. What a returning resident gets is the better depreciation column above, on production of supporting documents such as the purchase contract and proof of residence abroad. A better valuation, not a free pass.

Permits, emissions and the paper trail

Import permit. An individual, or any firm not registered as an importer or exporter, needs an import permit from the International Trade Administration before bringing in a car, new or used. There is a threshold: no permit is needed where the vehicle value is FOB USD 20,000 or less. Above that, get the permit arranged before the car ships.

Emissions. The current requirement for gasoline and diesel vehicles is Stage 6, in force since 1 September 2019 and fully applicable from March 2021 for gasoline and September 2021 for diesel. Certification runs through the Ministry of Environment. The importer first needs either a model type-approval certificate or a per-vehicle test certificate, then applies to the Ministry for verification stamping before the transport authority will register the car. The per-vehicle route exists specifically for one-off imports, which is what most American cars are.

Documents. For a personally imported car: the import declaration, a copy of the bill of lading, the invoice, the import permit where the value exceeds FOB USD 20,000, a power of attorney for the declaration, a copy of the ID or passport, and a schedule of the car and its optional accessories. A certificate of origin is required for sedans, other small passenger cars and chassis.

Deadline. The import declaration must be transmitted within 15 days following the date of arrival of the vessel.

Classic cars: a real category, with a catch

Taiwan has a formal classic vehicle class, which few countries in this region do. Under the Road Traffic Safety Rules, a 古董車 is a passenger car or motorcycle more than 35 years old that has passed review by the body the Ministry of Transportation and Communications entrusts with vehicle approval, and which may only be issued a dedicated licence plate.

Separate inspection standards apply. The rules set specific items and criteria for classic vehicles at special-plate, periodic and temporary inspection, and allow relief from certain equipment requirements where the dimensions and weight match original factory specification, or where the original design simply did not include the part. Mirrors, horn, fenders and lights are the examples the rules give.

Two things we could not confirm and will not guess at: whether classic vehicles are exempt from the Stage 6 emission standard, and whether there is any limit on how many days a year a classic plate may be used. The supplementary working rules for classic vehicle assessment exist and are dated June 2023, but the document itself was not reachable. Your broker or the review body can tell you.

Temporary import uses a different carnet

If the car is coming for a show, a race or a shoot and then leaving, this is the route, and there is one wrinkle Americans trip over.

Taiwan is not in the ordinary ATA Carnet system. It is not a World Customs Organization member, so it operates carnets through bilateral agreements instead, currently signed with 44 countries and operational with 41. The issuing and guaranteeing body inside Taiwan is TAITRA. From the US side you use a TECRO/AIT Carnet, issued separately from an ordinary ATA Carnet. If Taiwan is one stop on a wider international itinerary, you need both documents, not one.

Under the Regulations Governing Temporary Admission of Goods, eligible goods are professional instruments and equipment, goods for display or use at exhibitions and international fairs and meetings, and commercial samples for display or demonstration. Carnet validity is not more than one year from issuance, and the goods must be re-exported inside it. Security comes from the guaranteeing association rather than a cash deposit, and its liability is capped at the assessed duties and taxes plus 10%.

Excluded: tobacco and alcohol, perishables and consumables, goods not intended for re-export, goods under import or export control, and goods imported for processing or repair.

Motorsport vehicles and film production vehicles are not named in the eligible list. Whether a race car counts as professional equipment is a question for Taiwanese Customs, and we could not confirm it either way.

General cargo into Taiwan

Ordinary freight into Taiwan is straightforward. Business tax is 5%, collected by Customs at the border. Duty-paying value is CIF. The declaration is due within 15 days of the vessel arriving.

Who can be the importer. Registered import and export traders can bring in anything not on the restricted list without a permit. Individuals and other unregistered importers can import non-restricted goods without a permit where the value is FOB USD 20,000 or less; above that, or for anything on the restricted list, a permit from the International Trade Administration is needed. Permits are valid six months, extendable twice by up to six months each.

Commodity inspection. The Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection regulates a long list of products, identified by commodity code, and they must carry the Commodity Inspection Mark before being supplied to the Taiwanese market. Worth knowing if you are shipping electrical or electronic goods: end-product safety testing must be done in Taiwan, and a UL certification on its own does not satisfy the requirement. For electromagnetic compatibility, Taiwan does accept testing from US laboratories accredited by NIST under NVLAP.

Wood packaging. Taiwan has a quarantine regulation covering wood packaging on imported goods, but the Ministry of Agriculture and plant health pages carrying its text were not reachable, so we cannot tell you what it requires. We are not going to invent a position. Most US exporters treat and mark to ISPM 15 as standard practice; confirm the Taiwanese requirement with your broker before you crate anything unusual.

How we ship it

Full containers only. The container is yours, you decide what goes in it, and we do not combine your cargo with another customer’s. No part loads, no groupage, no loose items. A 20ft takes one vehicle; a 40ft high cube takes two comfortably.

We load from New Jersey, Savannah, Houston and Baltimore, with pickup and towing from any US state. Taiwan is served from both coasts, with the West Coast routing usually fastest.

Keelung Customs covers the widest area, including Keelung Port and Taipei Port, and there are separate Customs offices at Taichung and Kaohsiung, all of which publish imported-vehicle guidance. We could not confirm any official designation restricting vehicle imports to named ports, so plan the port around your buyer’s location and your broker’s base.

Our responsibility ends at the port of discharge. Safety approval, emission verification and registration are all handled on the Taiwanese side by the importer and their broker.

Taiwan questions, answered