Is a VIN prefix enough to establish the rate?

No. The first three characters point to the manufacturer and the country, but one prefix can cover several plants. The rate needs the country of final assembly tied to the full number, and that is exactly the reading you get after entering a VIN.

What if the Fusion came off a line in Canada?

Then the car does not use the preference and enters the EU at 10% duty. Canada and Mexico are the most common source of confusion, because cars from there reach sales in the States on equal terms with cars of American production.

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 Fusion 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.

Ford Fusion: where the car was built and what it pays

Our database holds 5,559 Ford Fusion cars with an American assembly plant on record. Those clear at 0%, the rest at 10% — one model name, two different rates. Before you set a bidding limit, check which line the car you are looking at came off.

Where is the Ford Fusion assembled?

Most zero-rated Fusion cars come from the plant in Flat Rock (United States). Plants in other countries build this model too, and their cars clear at 10%. We read the plant from the production data of a single VIN, so the answer covers one car rather than the whole family.

Plant	Country	VIN prefix	Cars in our database	Duty
Hermosillo	Mexico	3FA	119,550	10%
Flat Rock	United States	1FA	5,559	0% duty

Made in USA • Tax 0%

How do you check a specific car?

The VIN settles the matter in seconds. Fusion cars from plants in the USA carry the prefixes 1FA here, but we look deeper — at the final assembly plant tied to the whole number. Only that answers the question of 0% or 10%.

How much will you save?

Run it down both routes, because the Fusion exists on both: a car from an American line at 0% duty, a car from a plant outside the USA at 10%. The rest of the bill is identical — excise by engine size and 23% VAT. The calculator shows both versions from the same inputs.

Work out the import cost

What the import cost is made of

The cost of importing a Ford Fusion 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 Fusion 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

Cars end up at sales in the States mostly after damage, so the condition report matters more than the odometer. Check whether the damage touches structural parts or only panels, and price the repair before you bid. The duty rate ignores condition — a damaged Fusion clears exactly like an intact one.

Damage	Cars in our database
Front end	2,815
Rear end	910
Side	811

From the USA or from Europe?

Europe hands you a car ready to register; the States hand you a wider choice of versions and of damaged cars. On a Fusion origin joins the list: a car assembled in the USA clears at 0%, one from outside the preference at 10%. That is the first thing to check when you compare offers.

See current listings: Ford Fusion