hiya we are buying an excavator in the US, and then taking it back to Mexico. The seller says we will get just a bill of sale. Is that all we need?
You will need a forwarding agent. Check with Transportes Especializados Gambi. Mi amigo Cesar es el dueno. He can get you an agent. If he can't, I'll get you one here in Laredo. www.gambi.com/mx
sorry, that's supposed to be www.gambi.com.mx Just keep in mind that Gambi is the freight forwarder (door to door trucking company) not the forwarding agent/broker.
I would be sure everything is double checked ... The other half did work for a place that shipped internationlly.... nothing like getting a container stuck at the border or overseas... for a lack of a signature... or mislabeled item.... Everything had to be signed in red or blue ink... so they can tell if it's a photocopy..all original paperwork Even Ebay shipping international is somewaht a pain ... 4 page customs form plus 2 invoices... that just for the regular people.... can imagine what commercial shipments would be like.. I do know that when mexico passed the only 1998 vehicles into the country, the used car buyers were doing backflips they were so excited... that they could actually buy cars cheap again... Unknown if that still a rule
Thanks, Serv. We do have a customs agent, but we are new with them, we've never imported before, y todavia no estamos en alta con ellos, hasta que reciben mas documentos, ojala este semana. They haven't been giving us the details on what papers we need. It sounds like a notarized bill of sale should be enough, but we just aren't sure. Si estuvimos comprando aqui en Mexico, con una contrato de compra/venta hay que tener la factura de la maquina. No sera problema que no nos da factura, solamente contrato de compra/venta?
Here's an invoice for a generator that was exported by somebody. In fact, Rojas Heavy (the seller) is actually a Mexican owned company operating in Texas. Most of the equipment they sell goes to Mexico. They accidently sent me this invoice when I requested my excavator invoice the other day. This should be more than sufficient. BTW, I can get you the contact info to the largest heavy equipment broker in Laredo if you'd like. Everyone that crosses equipment around here uses him. They only cross heavy equipment they are a friend of a friend of mine and located about a mile from my facility. I don't know their name offhand, but I can get it for you. si cualquier problema debía surgir, podría manejar sobre y averiguarlo para usted
Thanks a lot, Serv. The name of another customs agency would be very useful. We may have to switch, if it doesn't take too much time. We need this deal to close before the end of this year. The seller is giving us a bill of sale, it won't be a printed, numbered receipt, it will be a document done up in microsoft works. They will sign it, we will sign it, and it will be notarized. That is why we are so concerned. They are a small outfit, this is the way they have always done it. The customs agency says there will be extra fees if the factura comercial no es el estandard, pero no nos dicen mas.
you don't need no stinking papers...sorry i couldn't help it...lol!
cute
Just a rules reminder that English is the official language of HEF. Please make all posts in total English, thanks.
10-4 driva, i be dippin and trppin...:drinkup
Official language? I translated my spanish sentences to english and so did the OP for the most part. algape, please feel free to email me at anytime if you need any help with your dilema [email protected]
From the HEF rules page: I speak a little Spanish myself and I understood what you all were saying. I would like to know more and I am currently studying (maybe one day be proficient ). However the rules are the rules, hence the reminder. This is an interesting thread, I have some friends in Central America that have asked me about finding them equipment in the states. Each country I assume would have different rules on importing but they probably share some commonality in the regulations - the main commonality being paying your import duty and fees.
none going northbound
fair point, about the english. it's just that for people who know Mexico, i think my concern about a bill of sale is understandable, but for others, probably not. when i spoke in spanish, i mostly was discussing mexican bureaucracy. in mexico, a factura is a more formal kind of invoice. it is what you need to make tax deductions, and to prove ownership. facturas must be professionally printed - only certain printers with the proper license can print them. they must be numbered, and must display a government seal with your corporate tax number. also, to become a client of a customs agency you have to send them a mountain of paperwork, including photos of the interior and exterior of your place of business, for example, and until they are satisfied with that paperwork they won't represent you. we are about to go to the States to buy a machine, but our customs agents still haven't officially accepted us as clients, and we are going to get a bill of sale, which we know would not be acceptable in mexico for a purchase like this. thus the concern.
Well I think if there was truly an issue with the spanish words then the mod should just send me a PM rather than this but then again this is just the internet. Who cares. It's not like I wrote the entire post in spanish, just a few words to make sure the original poster fully understood me. I usually try to give more around here than ask if possible. This makes me wonder why I even bother as I seem to have less time on my hands as I get busier with my life and work. :beatsme Don't worry, there is no shortage of hungry brokers in my area. I'm guessing the email from K M was from you? If so, I'll respond with the info as soon as I get it. If they aren't open on my way to work today, I'll get it for you before noon on monday. In fact, I'll even email you a pic or two of their yard so you can see all the equipment they move.
Yes, the email was from me. Again, we appreciate all your help in this. I do wonder if it is really possible to switch agents for this deal at this point, though. I understand that for an agent to represent you, La Hacienda has to have them on your official list of agents, that was part of our application to become licensed as importers. Putting someone else on that list may take time. This is a big part of the problem. The pedimento (customs papers) has to be dated this year or we won't be able to deduct the expense of the excavator from our taxes, and we'll take a big hit. As it stands, the excavator won't arrive at the border until the 7th, and our agent says it will take 5 days to clear, so that would be the 14th. The good news is the customs agency does now say that the draft bill of sale i sent them would be enough to process the import, if the tax ID of the seller is added. I did it up using the invoice you posted as a template, putting in the same information in a similar fashion. Then i just tacked on a line saying 'received in payment - $xxxxx' (the full amount) and a place for the seller to sign, a place for us to sign, and space for a notary to sign it and seal it. Legally that has to be enough. The customs agency does say they will have to take that and make another document from it that is formatted the way customs officials want, but say that's no big deal. And they asked for the seller's tax ID number, which i have to get (i sure hope they don't balk at giving me that). At any rate, buying in the States is certainly worth it. If we tried to buy this machine here in Mexico, it would be nearly double the price.
The purchase is completed now. Basically, then, what was necessary was: - a 'commercial invoice' which is the invoice style used by exporters, a good example of which is on Wikipedia, - with the seller's federal tax ID, - the buyer's RFC, which is a company's tax ID in Mexico, - and the signature of both parties. - We also had it notarized, which may not have been necessary but was easy to do. We are registered as importers in Mexico, so we used a customs agency, but didn't have to use a 'comercializadora', which is an importer who imports for people who aren't importers themselves, for an extra fee of about $1500. The payment was by international bank transfer, which our bank in Mexico would not do without a legal representative of our company present in our branch here to authorize and witness the transaction. You can't pay by any kind of cheque between Mexico and the USA - it's credit card or bank transfer. So, that's how it's done, in a nutshell.
algape_do you know about the 330 rollover in tumpam. i know it is off topic but i see you are from michoacan.??
no... i quickly checked the news here and didn't find anything related. could you be more specific?
look in the excavator section under excavator rollover. also en you tube "accidentes de excavadoras"
I've been looking at the video. I posted a comment on youtube with the translation of the poster's comment and what is said in the video. In the poster's comment it says this was taken during the construction of the toll highway Mexico City to Tuxpam, which is on the Gulf coast, and that the operator was from Huauchinanga, and that he died shortly after the accident. The operator was senior to the worker taking the video, at the beginning he is explaining to him how to record it, and tells him not to stop until he has reached the bottom (which he didn't...) The second worker kept telling him to go down, that passing that point he could go down. Like i say on my comment there, construction workers in Mexico are a very tough bunch and are always taking risks, often needlessly. Often they egg each other on to do things that are dangerous, like the worker who was taking the video did. A company big enough to have a contract for a toll highway normally has fairly good safety protocols, but smaller companies are often negligent. Thanks for telling me about the video. What a shame...
There was a guy in Houston Texas making a good living sending Trucks and Equip.out of the country.Till he got caught.
tonka's alright - he was playing with a quote from an old movie. The bad guys try to tell the good guys to come out 'cause they are the Mexican police. The good guys say 'then show us your badges', so they say 'badges? we don't need no stinking badges!'. It's a quote that's thrown around a lot. I first heard it on WKRP in Cinninnati.
Thanks for the huge information, actually I don't know about this. Thanks for add some more useful stuff in my mind vocabulary.
algape, I am in international sales @ Mustang Caterpillar in Houston, TX. I have a large cliental in Mexico and South America and deal with questions such as yours on a daily basis. I also sell to many of the brokers found on the border of MX & TX, which in turn sell into Mexico. I also have sell to many "end users" in MX as well. If you have any questions about the required documentation needed to import I can help. feel free to email me: [email protected] Best, Evan