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Common Confusion When Temporarily Exporting Vehicles
One of the most common misconceptions when temporarily exporting a vehicle, is that a carnet serves as an export document from the United States. This is both true and false.
An ATA Carnet serves as a temporary export document but a Carnet de Passage en Douane (CPD) does not. Unlike the ATA Carnet*, the Carnet de Passage will not be accepted as an export document at the time the vehicle is temporarily exported from the U.S. The vehicle owner must consult with their shipper. freight forwarder or U.S. Customs for U.S. temporary export requirements of vehicles using a CPD. This has an advantage and a disadvantage.
Advantage
The advantage is that the CPD document can easily be obtained or renewed while traveling abroad with no requirement to present it along with the vehicle to U.S. Customs.
Disadvantage
The disadvantage is that alternate export documents must be used in lieu of the Carnet de Passage (CPD) which makes the process slightly more complex than it would be if the CPD was an accepted, U.S. temporary export document for vehicles.
Moral
The moral of the story is, "Not all carnets are created equal." And when using a carnet for customs clearance of a motor vehicle, consult with a Carnet Specialist. The rules differ country-to-country and the cost of an ATA Carnet vs. a CPD are very different.
*a.k.a. The Merchandise Passport