What are the rules for shipping household goods and a car into the United States?

US Customs and Border Protection sets the rules for people moving in: personal and household effects you have used abroad for a year or more are generally free of duty, declared on the household-effects form that your international mover files with the shipment inventory. New items, alcohol, tobacco and some foods have their own limits, and certain goods are restricted [1].

Vehicles are the exception that catches people out. A car imported for permanent use must conform to US federal safety and emissions standards or be formally brought into conformity, which is slow and expensive for a car built for another market; vehicles over 25 years old are exempt from the safety rules but not from the paperwork [1]. Once in Arizona, an imported vehicle still needs a title and registration from the Motor Vehicle Division, which will ask for the customs release documents [2].

Use a mover with experience in US customs clearance and get the inventory in English. Moving fraud exists on both ends: the state Attorney General publishes consumer guidance and takes complaints about moving companies [3].