Opened Your LC Before May 15? You Still Lose the Tax Break If It Ships After Nov 15

If you opened a Letter of Credit for your car on or before 15 May 2026 to dodge the 50% customs duty surcharge, that exemption only holds if the vehicle's shipped-on-board date on the Bill of Lading is on or before 15 November 2026. Miss that date by even a day and Customs applies the full surcharge, even though the deal was locked in months ago in good faith. Importers argue the cutoff is fair: without a hard deadline, old LCs would sit open forever as a loophole, defeating the whole purpose of the surcharge. Buyers mid-shipment argue it's unfair to punish them for delays at a Japanese auction house, shipping line congestion, or paperwork completely outside their control, and some are now scrambling to get sellers to rush loading before the date hits. If your car is still at a Japanese port or at sea with this deadline closing in, what is your agent or importer actually telling you? Has anyone already been hit with the surcharge despite locking in an early LC? Nov 15 ට කලින් නැව් නැඟුවොත් විතරයි සහනය ලැබෙන්නේ. ඔයාගේ වාහනේ තත්ත්වය මොකක්ද?