815.1259 Motor Vehicles/2
The Secretary of State to the Danish Minister (Brun)
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of September 4, 1928, in which you were good enough to inform me that your Government, on the basis of reciprocity, is prepared to grant freedom from taxation for a period of three months to foreign automobiles built for transportation of passengers not to exceed seven in number, including the driver, and belonging in the country in question and registered as the property of persons residing there.
In reply I have the honor to inform you that the Federal Government imposes no taxes on automobiles in the United States. The taxation of owners of automobiles and the exaction of fees for the registration of automobiles is a matter for determination by the several States. The Department has been informally advised that an investigation of the motor vehicle laws of the forty-eight States of the United States discloses the fact that all of them grant reciprocity to foreign visitors.
[Page 925]This reciprocity is granted in respect both to the license plate and the driving license, provided, of course, that the same reciprocity is extended by foreign countries to residents of States that are now granting this courtesy. With regard to the taxation of owners of automobiles which is usually distinct from the payment of a registration fee, it may be stated that it is the Department’s understanding that as a general rule such taxes are only imposed upon persons who are found to be legal residents of a certain State. Such taxes, it is believed, would not be exacted from persons who are merely touring through the several States of the Union, the class of persons to whom, presumably, reference is made in your note under acknowledgment.
In this connection the following information regarding the freedom from customs duties granted on a reciprocal basis to motorcycles and automobiles brought into the United States by nonresidents for a period of not more than six months, quoted from a letter from the Treasury Department, would appear pertinent to your inquiry:
“The regulations governing such importations are contained in Chapter VIII, Customs Regulations of 1923, Articles 406–413. Article 407 provides that entry shall be made on Customs Form 7501, and that bond shall be given on Customs Form 7563 (with surety) in a penal sum equal to double the estimated duties. In lieu of such bond, the importer may deposit a cash amount equal to the estimated duties, which is treated as a cash bond. The entry will be liquidated free of duty, and the bond canceled or the amount deposited returned if the vehicle in question is exported within the six months period prescribed by Section 308 and provided that exportation is made in the manner required by Article 412 of the regulations. When not so exported, the vehicles are treated in the same manner as similar articles imported for sale and consumption, and assessed for duty on their value at the time of importation. The six months period prescribed for exportation cannot be extended.”
I have the honor to express the hope that in the light of the foregoing information the competent Danish authorities will be prepared to grant reciprocal treatment to American citizens desiring to drive automobiles in Denmark.
Accept [etc.]