Importing a Used Car from China to Jordan: Duty, Age Limit & Spec (2026)

Quick answer

Yes — a China-market used car fits Jordan: Jordan drives on the right and uses left-hand-drive (LHD) vehicles, like China. Jordan was the seventh-largest destination for China’s used-car exports by value in 2023 (trade-association figures), and part of Aqaba’s car trade has long served Iraqi buyers. The money: a cabinet decision of 2025-06-28 cut the reported total import-tax burden on petrol cars from 71% to 51% of customs value (hybrids 60% → 39%, EVs a flat 27% special tax). The rules: EVs more than three years old are barred from import, salvage and flood/fire-damaged vehicles are banned, and from 2025-11-01 every imported passenger car must meet one recognized technical regulation from Europe, the US, the GCC or Saudi Arabia. For petrol and hybrid used cars no consolidated official age rule could be located in public sources at the 2026-09-05 check date — verification required before shipping.

Rules at a glance

Can you import a used car from China?

Yes. Jordan imports used cars through commercial dealers and, on conditions that vary by status and use, individuals. Jordan Customs publishes its clearance fees and statement types in its online trade repository and assesses customs value as the goods price plus insurance and shipping. Commercial import references mention registration with the importers’ register and an importation card — this detail was not confirmed on an official page at the check date, so confirm your import channel with Jordan Customs or a licensed clearance broker before shipping. Nearly all vehicle volume enters through the Port of Aqaba, Jordan’s only deep-water sea gateway, which sits inside the Aqaba Special Economic Zone (ASEZ). The zone runs its own lighter fiscal regime, but the blanket ASEZ import exemption is reported to exclude vehicles, and a car consumed in the rest of Jordan pays standard duties — so the zone status does not make a passenger car duty-free.

Vehicle age limit

Two layers must be separated. Electric vehicles: under the 2025-06-28 cabinet decision, an EV more than three years old — counting the year of customs clearance — cannot be imported at all. Petrol and hybrid used cars: the picture is not officially consolidated. Recent trade guides describe a 10-year ceiling for personally imported cars; older references describe a 5-year rule; no official gazette text or Jordan Customs page stating either figure was located at the 2026-09-05 check date. Public official guidance is unclear. Confirm the current rule for your vehicle’s age with the Jordan Customs Department or a licensed broker before purchasing. Separately, on-road licensing for older vehicles runs through annual DVLD inspection cycles, which is a registration matter rather than an import ban.

Duty and taxes

The base is CIF — Jordan Customs’ trade repository defines the calculation as the price of the goods plus insurance and shipping expenses once they arrive in the Kingdom. On 2025-06-28 the Cabinet, amending the 2025 Special Tax Bylaw, cut the reported total tax burden as follows: petrol cars from 71% to 51% of customs value (a 28% reduction); hybrids from 60% to 39%; EVs to a flat 27% special tax regardless of value or category, replacing a planned three-step rise to up to 55%; motorcycle customs duties from 45% to 33%. The statutory decomposition of the “total” figures (customs duty, special tax, general sales tax) is not consolidated in public English-language sources, and the sales-tax component was reported at 16% in trade references — confirm the line items with Jordan Customs before quoting a landed cost. Fixed clearance charges (declaration stamps, overtime wages) are listed in the official trade repository in Jordanian dinars and are small relative to the ad valorem taxes.

Estimated landed cost example

Illustrative arithmetic, self-checkable. Used petrol sedan: invoice US$15,000 (FOB) + US$2,000 freight and insurance → CIF = US$17,000. Applied rate: the reported post-June-2025 total import-tax figure for petrol cars, 51% of customs value, assumed to apply to the full CIF.

• Total import tax = 51% × 17,000 = US$8,670.00

Vehicle + freight + tax ≈ US$25,670, about 151% of CIF — before Aqaba port and clearance charges, broker fees and DVLD registration. Caveats: the 51% figure is the reported headline from the cabinet decision package; if Jordan Customs assesses a customs value above your invoice, the tax scales up.

Under the same reported package, the comparable models are: hybrid — total tax = 39% × 17,000 = US$6,630.00, landed ≈ US$23,630; EV — flat 27% special tax = 27% × 17,000 = US$4,590.00, landed ≈ US$21,590. Each variant remains subject to the EV age bar and the November 2025 conformity requirement.

Specification and inspection

Under the 2025 package, every imported passenger car — petrol, hybrid or electric — must satisfy one recognized technical regulation from Europe, the US, the GCC or Saudi Arabia, effective 2025-11-01; after that date no vehicle clears customs without meeting the updated standards. The Jordan Standards and Metrology Organization (JSMO) set 2025-09-01 as the final deadline for clearing EVs holding older exemptions from conformity checks, a step reported to void roughly 50,000 existing exemptions. China-market cars are not built to any of those specifications by default, so conformity documentation (or a regulation the vehicle demonstrably meets) must be part of the file before shipping. The China-side export inspection (WM/T 8-2022) does not replace this requirement. Diesel passenger cars are reported as not permitted for import; RHD vehicles are prohibited.

Required documents

• Bill of lading, commercial invoice, packing list.
• Customs declaration filed with Jordan Customs (the trade repository lists the statement types, e.g. IM7 for home-use clearance).
• Conformity evidence against the applicable recognized technical regulation (from 2025-11-01).
• Proof of year of manufacture — the EV three-year bar and any age screening rely on it.
• China-side export licence and deregistration paperwork — useful evidence for the file, and standard practice in the trade.

Shipping options (Aqaba)

The Port of Aqaba is Jordan’s maritime gateway for vehicles, with ro-ro and container services both in use; Chinese and Far East loading ports serve it directly or via transshipment. Overland import through Saudi Arabia or Syria exists on paper but sea freight to Aqaba is the regular channel for China-origin cars. No consolidated official guidance on land-border restrictions for used cars was located — confirm routing specifics with your forwarder and Jordan Customs.

Customs clearance

Clearance at Aqaba follows the standard Jordan Customs statement process, with fees per Instructions No. (1) of 2007 (declaration stamps, overtime wages and traffic-related charges as listed in the official trade repository). A licensed clearance broker handles the declaration in standard practice. Two cost drivers recur: assessed customs value above the invoice, and conformity hold-ups for cars that cannot show compliance with the post-November-2025 technical-regulation requirement.

Registration (DVLD)

After clearance, registration and annual licensing run through the Drivers and Vehicles Licensing Department (DVLD), which publishes its services on an official English-language site. Cabinet-approved 2024 amendments to the vehicle licensing fee by-law were reported as value-based: JD 50 per year for vehicles valued at JD 10,000 or less, and JD 125 for JD 10,000–25,000; a cleared car landing near US$25,670 would likely sit in the middle tier. Compulsory third-party insurance is paid separately at renewal. The full current fee schedule was not consolidated in an official English source at the check date — confirm with DVLD.

Common risks

• Fast-moving fiscal rules: the 2024 licensing-fee bylaw and the 2025 special-tax and import-regulation package both changed mid-stream; quotes older than a few quarters are stale.
• EV-specific tightening: the three-year import bar and the voided conformity exemptions caught many in-transit EVs in 2025.
• Conflicting age-limit figures (10-year vs 5-year) for petrol/hybrid cars with no located official text.
• Assessed value vs invoice: the tax base is Jordan Customs’ customs value, not your purchase price.
• Salvage ban enforcement: fire/flood-damaged or written-off units are barred; documentation gaps at Aqaba mean demurrage.

China-side export requirements

China runs a licensed-exporter system: every shipment needs a licensed exporter, a per-shipment export licence, third-party inspection (WM/T 8-2022), transfer-for-export registration and deregistration after clearance. From 2026-01-01, cars registered less than 180 days before the export application also need a manufacturer after-sales confirmation letter. Details: China Used Car Export Rules 2026.

Official sources

• Jordan Customs Department — Trade Repository: import/export/transit fees (customs value = price + insurance + shipping; fee schedule). Main portal customs.gov.jo did not respond from the check network at the check date; the trade-repository subdomain did.
• Drivers and Vehicles Licensing Department (DVLD) — dvld.gov.jo (registration and annual licensing authority)
• Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority — aseza.jo (zone fiscal regime; general import exemptions reported to exclude vehicles — confirm scope with ASEZA)
• Jordan Standards and Metrology Organization (JSMO) — standards portal (2025 conformity deadlines as reported by national media)
• Jordan Times — Cabinet overhauls vehicle import rules (2025-06-28 package) (B-grade national media reporting a cabinet decision: tax cuts, EV age bar, salvage ban, 2025-11-01 conformity requirement)
• Jordan News — Cabinet approves amended vehicle licensing fee by-law (reported JD 50 / JD 125 tiers)

Update log

Disclaimer

This guide is for general information and market research. Import rules can change and may vary by vehicle, importer status, port and local authority. Confirm current requirements with the destination customs or transport authority and a qualified local broker before purchasing or shipping a vehicle.