SINOTRUK HOWO-TX 6x4 Tipper

SINOTRUK HOWO-TX 6x4 Tipper · landed in Lagos on a USD 18,000 FOB example: USD 34,862, assessed under heading 8704 (levy 5 per cent)

A tipper or cargo truck falls under heading 8704 and carries the used-vehicle levy. Trailers and tractor units fall under heading 87.16, and Nigeria's customs service has stated a 25 per cent levy on that heading to encourage local manufacturing. On a USD 18,000 unit that difference is about USD 4,500 of landed cost — a quarter of the truck's FOB value. Ask which heading your quotation is assessed under before you compare two prices. A quotation that does not say is not a comparable quotation.

Commercial vehicles face a shorter age limit than passenger cars in most West African markets, and the limit is read off the manufacturer's plate, not the first registration date. A truck first registered in 2017 may have been built in 2015; add five to six weeks of ocean transit and it can arrive over the line. Confirm the build year on the plate before you pay a deposit, not on arrival.

A 6x4 tipper is roughly 3.9 metres tall and 2.5 metres wide. A 40-foot high-cube has an internal height of 2.69 metres and an internal width of 2.35 metres. That is steel against steel and does not change with policy. Heavy trucks ship roll-on/roll-off or on a flat rack, priced per unit rather than per container — which is why a truck freight quote is several times a car's, and why a suspiciously cheap truck freight line usually means the method cannot load the vehicle.

• The tariff heading, not the condition
• It will not fit in a container