The AES or Automated Export system is system prescribed by the US Census Bureau on 3rd October 2014 which cover every land based self-propelled vehicles irrespective of destination country or value of the vehicle. The AES must be transmitted 72 hours before the vehicle crosses the border. In the process, the AES has to be filed in order to get an ITN or International Transaction Number. If you do not have an ITN and attempting to cross the border, you may be fined up to 10000 USD as per the US Census Bureau foreign trade regulation. The easiest way to get an ITN is to approach a customs broker offering AES filing services. File your AES with the help of Clearititn number request to get an ITN and import your vehicle with out any problem in crossing the border.
Either you are a non-US buyer who wants import vehicle from the US or a US resident wish to export vehicle outside the US, all the US citizens as well as vendors have to provide the Federal Tax ID or EIN i.e. Employer Identification Number. That means, if you have purchased a vehicle from a dealer in the US, the dealer must provide their EIN to you to file the AES. On the other hand, if you are an US citizen moving to Canada you have to use your own EIN. If in the case you do not have an EIN, you are required to apply for one online as an US resident or vendor for this transaction you are the US principle party in interest.
However, the above is not necessarily applicable if you are a foreign buyer and moving through the border with or without the vehicle. Most individual importers while purchasing vehicle in the US do not produce EIN. For instance, if you are a Canadian travelled to the US for purchasing a vehicle and returning with or without the vehicle you can use your passport instead of an EIN. This happens because you eventually become the US principle party in interest. But this happens only for the non-US buyers and not for the US citizens.
Remember, once you have decided whether you require an EIN or not, you have to accurately plan your port and date of crossing the border. You must cross the border on the date and port provided to you and any earlier than that may land you with penalties from border customs.
