Under the argument of “providing legal security to importers and owners of used vehicles regarding the legal stay and possession of these vehicles for circulation in national territory”, the decree regulating the definitive importation of used vehicles came into force on November 5 , after being published by the Ministry of Economy in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF) .
With this measure, residents of the northern strip of Mexico will be able to import these types of cars under certain conditions until November 2025, according to the decree of the Government of Mexico , headed by Claudia Sheinbaum , which contemplates that passenger vehicles , freight transport units , road tractors , semi-trailers and concrete mixer trucks may enter the country , as long as their model year is eight to nine years old.
According to the document, vehicles whose model year is five to nine years prior to the year in which the import is made will have a tariff of 1% , and those whose model year is 10 years prior to the year in which the import is made, the tariff will be 10 percent .
“The definitive import that importers may opt for in terms of this article will be carried out in accordance with the procedure established by the Tax Administration Service through general rules. The customs document with which said import is carried out may only cover one vehicle,” the decree states.
According to the rules, in the definitive importation into the country of used vehicles under preferential tariff treatment provided for in the free trade treaties and trade agreements of which Mexico is a party, the importer will comply with the formalities and requirements established by said regulations .
It indicates that the owners of imported vehicles must comply with the registration procedure established in the Public Vehicle Registry Law and other applicable provisions on the matter. In addition, it specifies that the customs document used for importing may only cover one vehicle.
“The importer must present to the customs authority the valid certificate of origin or the document proving origin at the time of importation,” it states.
Among other points, the decree specifies that used vehicles whose circulation is restricted or prohibited in the country of origin due to their characteristics or technical reasons may not be imported , as well as those cars that do not comply with the physical-mechanical or environmental protection conditions established by the Mexican authorities, and those that have been reported stolen .
It is worth remembering that on September 30, the regulation on used cars expired and on November 5 of this year its validity was resumed until November 2025 , after said decree was published in the DOF, with which used cars will be able to enter the country to reduce “the inequality gaps of the population, through access to a decent means of transportation.”
Regarding the decree, the Mexican Association of Automobile Distributors (AMDA) stated that “it is the appropriate mechanism to have a legal and orderly trade in used vehicles.”
“The decree regulating the definitive import of used vehicles is undoubtedly sensitive to the economic, environmental and fiscal problems that the import of used vehicles implies, and may provide legal security to the importers or owners of this merchandise; a situation for which we express not only our agreement with its content but also our support for its very existence,” he said in a statement.
The organization reiterated its call to the federal government to end the regularization of “automotive smuggling ,” which was extended by former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador until September 30, 2026, and which, at the time, the AMDA described as “regrettable,” since it inhibits the sale of new cars in Mexico.
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