Does zero duty also lower VAT?

Indirectly. VAT at 23% is charged on customs value with duty added, so 0% instead of 10% shrinks the tax base. Excise is worked out separately by engine size and comes to 3.1% or 18.6% either way.

Since when has the customs preference applied?

Since 2026-07-01, under the EU–US Agreement on Reciprocal Trade. It covers passenger cars finally assembled in the United States. Cars from plants in other countries keep clearing at 10%, whatever the market they were bought on and whoever sold them.

Does the model year change the assembly country?

Sometimes it does. Manufacturers move production between plants partway through a generation, so a CTS from two different model years can carry a different assembly country. That is why the rate is set for a VIN and not for a model name.

Does mechanical condition affect duty?

No. A damaged CTS clears at the same rate as an intact car from the same plant, because what counts is the country of final assembly. Condition does affect the purchase price, and through it the customs value and the taxes charged on it.

How long does a VIN check take?

A matter of seconds. You enter the number and get the country and city of the assembly plant plus the answer to whether that CTS meets the condition for the customs preference. The check is free, needs no account and can be repeated for every lot you consider.

Cadillac CTS from the USA — 0% duty or 10%

Zero duty is a property of one car, not of the Cadillac CTS as such. An American line means 0% duty and a lower 23% VAT base; a line outside the States means 10%. Manufacturers run parallel production on several continents, so two cars from one model year can clear differently.

Where is the Cadillac CTS assembled?

CTS cars off American lines carry the VIN prefixes 1G6 in our database. A prefix shows the manufacturer and the country, but the 0% rate is decided by the final assembly plant read for the specific number. The table shows how many cars from each plant have passed through us.

Plant	Country	VIN prefix	Cars in our database	Duty
Lansing - Grand River	United States	1G6	12,811	0% duty
Lansing	United States	1G6	1,108	0% duty

Made in USA • Tax 0%

How do you check a specific car?

The quickest filter is the first three characters of the number — on a CTS with American assembly that is usually 1G6. A filter is not proof, though: we check the plant tied to the full VIN, because only that answers the condition. The check runs in seconds and costs nothing.

How much will you save?

The zero rate works in two places at once: 10% of duty disappears and the base for 23% VAT falls with it. That is why the difference across the whole bill on a US-assembled CTS is larger than duty alone. The result follows customs value, so put yours into the calculator.

Work out the import cost

What the import cost is made of

The cost of importing a Cadillac CTS splits into rates you know in advance and a customs value you do not. Fixed: duty at 0% or 10%, excise at 3.1% or 18.6% by engine size, VAT at 23%. Variable: the purchase price, transport and port charges.

Component	Rate
Duty — car assembled in the USA	0%
Duty — everything else	10%
Excise	3.1% up to 2.0 l, 18.6% above 3.5 l
VAT	23%

Rates, not amounts — the calculator works the sum out on current data.

Zero-duty paperwork — our job

Proof of origin and clearance are on us. For a CTS that the VIN places on an American line, we assemble the plant documentation and declare the car at the 0% rate. What we need from you is the car you picked and its VIN.

What to watch for when buying at auction

Before you raise your bid, look at the damaged area. On a CTS it is most often features.lots.characteristics.damage_type.front_end, and then the key question is whether the body structure was disturbed. Origin is a separate check, run on the VIN — the two things are independent of each other.

Damage	Cars in our database
Front end	6,984
Rear end	1,939
Side	1,763

From the USA or from Europe?

You go to the States for choice and for versions never sold in Europe. On that side of the bill you add transport, clearance and post-damage repair; pulling the other way is 0% duty on CTS cars from American lines. Decide after the VIN check, not before it.

See current listings: Cadillac CTS