Two listings for the same car can show prices US$1,500 apart and still cost you the same. One is quoted CIF, the other FOB, and the gap is the shipping. Getting this wrong is the most common way a first-time importer under-budgets, because the customs charges are not calculated on the price you see in the listing. They are calculated on the CIF value, whatever the listing said.
What CIF means
CIF stands for cost, insurance and freight. It is the price of the vehicle, plus the insurance on it while it is at sea, plus the freight to bring it to Kingston. That total is the value Jamaica Customs taxes. Every percentage line on the assessment, import duty, SCT, GCT and the environmental levy, is calculated from it. Only the flat customs administrative fee ignores it.
Customs works in Jamaican dollars, so the CIF is converted at the Bank of Jamaica rate on the day of clearance. Not the day you paid the exporter, and not the rate your dealer quoted you. The exchange rate guide covers what that means for a budget.
What FOB means
FOB stands for free on board. The price covers the vehicle delivered onto the ship at the Japanese port and nothing after that. You arrange and pay for the sea freight and the marine insurance yourself, or through your dealer. Customs then adds those two costs to the FOB price to arrive at the CIF value it will tax. An FOB listing is not a cheaper car. It is the same car with two of its costs left off the page.
Most Japanese exporters selling into Jamaica quote CIF to Kingston, and that is the figure to prefer where you can get it, because it is the number customs will use. Some list FOB by default and show CIF once you choose a destination port. Check which one you are looking at before you compare anything.
Why comparing an FOB listing to a CIF one misleads
Suppose one exporter lists a car at US$9,000 FOB and another lists the same model at US$10,635 CIF. The FOB car looks cheaper by more than US$1,600. Add US$1,500 of freight and the insurance on top, and the two are the same price. Worse, every percentage on the assessment then applies to the full CIF, so the customs bill on the FOB car is exactly as large as on the CIF one. The apparent saving was never there.
The compounding makes the mistake expensive. A higher CIF raises the duty, then the SCT charged on CIF plus duty, then the GCT charged on all three. The compounding guide works through why an extra dollar of CIF costs more than a dollar in tax on many bands.
The same car, quoted both ways
The calculator has an FOB mode for exactly this. Give it the FOB price and the freight, and it adds them together with an insurance figure to reach CIF before it runs the assessment. If you leave the insurance field blank it assumes about 1.5% of the price plus freight, which is a common practice; type your own figure over it if you have a quote.
Here is a used 1.5 litre petrol car at US$9,000 FOB with US$1,500 of freight and the insurance estimated, converted at today’s Bank of Jamaica selling rate of J$158.88 per US$1. The calculator arrives at a CIF of US$10,658.
| US$10,658 CIF at J$158.88 per US$1 | Rate | J$ |
|---|---|---|
| CIF value in J$ | flat | J$1,693,343 |
| Import duty | 20% | J$338,669 |
| Special consumption tax | 10% | J$203,201 |
| GCT | 20% | J$447,043 |
| Environmental levy | 0.5% | J$8,467 |
| Customs administrative fee (used) | flat | J$69,000 |
| Total customs charges | 58.9% + fee | J$1,066,379 |
| Landed cost, CIF plus charges | J$2,759,722 |
And the same car listed at US$10,635 CIF to Kingston.
| US$10,635 CIF at J$158.88 per US$1 | Rate | J$ |
|---|---|---|
| CIF value in J$ | flat | J$1,689,689 |
| Import duty | 20% | J$337,938 |
| Special consumption tax | 10% | J$202,763 |
| GCT | 20% | J$446,078 |
| Environmental levy | 0.5% | J$8,448 |
| Customs administrative fee (used) | flat | J$69,000 |
| Total customs charges | 58.9% + fee | J$1,064,227 |
| Landed cost, CIF plus charges | J$2,753,916 |
The customs charges come to J$1,066,332 on the FOB listing once freight and insurance are added, against J$1,064,227 on the CIF listing. Within a few dollars they are the same, which is the point. The listing price differed by US$1,635; the landed cost did not.
Freight and insurance are not fixed
Freight to Kingston varies with the size of the vehicle, the shipping line, the port and the season, and a van or a pickup costs more to ship than a hatchback. Marine insurance is usually a small percentage of the value. Neither has a published tariff, so if you are buying FOB, get the freight and insurance quoted in writing before you commit, and put the real figures into the calculator rather than relying on the estimate. Whichever way you buy, the broker will need the invoice and the bill of lading showing what was paid, because Customs values the entry on the documents.
Which to choose
If an exporter offers both, CIF to Kingston is simpler: one figure, no separate freight to arrange, and it is the number customs will use. FOB can work out cheaper if you or your dealer can book freight for less than the exporter charges, but only if you know the freight before you compare. The one thing never to do is line up an FOB price against a CIF price and call the lower one the better deal.
Before you compare listings
- Check whether each price is CIF to Kingston or FOB at the Japanese port.
- For an FOB listing, get freight and insurance quoted in writing, then add them.
- Compare landed costs, not listing prices.
- Remember the CIF will be converted at the Bank of Jamaica rate on the day of clearance, so leave room for it to move.
Switch the calculator to FOB, enter the price and freight, and it will show the CIF customs will value and every charge on it.
Sources
- Bank of Jamaica exchange rates
- JCA Motor Vehicle Rates, dealers / ex-warehouse (revised April 2020)
- JCA import clearance procedure
Policies and rates change by ministerial order. This guide reflects the sources above as read on 15 September 2026. Confirm anything that affects your money with the Trade Board, Jamaica Customs or your broker.