Can You Buy a BYD in the US?

What BYD sells, and where

Our catalog tracks ten BYD models that you can't buy in the US. A few of them, with the price the car page shows:

The Atto 2 is sold in China, the UK, Europe and Australia. The Sealion 7 adds Thailand. The Shark 6 plug-in hybrid pickup is sold in Australia, Mexico and Thailand. The Yangwang U8, BYD's luxury off-roader, is sold only in China. See every model on the BYD brand page.

The three barriers

1. Safety and emissions certification. US cars must meet the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. The manufacturer certifies that a car complies, not NHTSA, and federal law restricts the import of cars that don't. EPA runs a separate program for emissions, and one approval doesn't replace the other. BYD hasn't certified its cars for the US, so none of them start out legal to import for road use.

2. Section 301 tariffs. Since 27 September 2024, Chinese electric vehicles under HTS subheading 8703.80.00 carry a 100% additional Section 301 duty. That sits on top of the ordinary duty, which is why our car pages often show 102.5%. The 100% figure is for that subheading. A plug-in hybrid or a truck can fall under a different line with a different rate. The Shark 6 is a pickup, so the 25% chicken tax on many imported trucks comes into play too.

3. The connected-vehicle rule. A Commerce Department rule, in effect since 17 March 2025, restricts connected-vehicle software and hardware linked to China or Russia. From model year 2027 it restricts cars with covered software, and sales by manufacturers with a sufficient link to China or Russia, even if the car is built in the US. From model year 2030 it restricts the connectivity hardware. It covers vehicles under 10,001 pounds.

Any one of these would keep BYD out. Together, they mean a tariff cut alone wouldn't put a BYD in a US showroom.

Could you import one yourself?

Probably not, for a recent model. There are three narrow paths, and none fits a new BYD well:

• The 25-year rule. A car at least 25 years old, counted from the date it was built, can be imported without meeting FMVSS. The oldest BYD model in our catalog started production in 2018, so this path is decades away. Read the 25-year rule.
• A Registered Importer. NHTSA has to find the car eligible first, and a Registered Importer then modifies it to comply. Appearing in our catalog doesn't make a car eligible.
• Show or Display. This needs a permission letter from NHTSA. As a general rule, NHTSA won't grant it if more than 500 of the model were built, which rules out mass-market cars.

Even when one of these clears the safety side, EPA and the tariff still apply separately. Our step-by-step guide, How to Import a Chinese EV, walks through each check in order.

Plus gives you a landed cost estimator, import scoring and price alerts for every car in the catalog. See Plus and Premium →

What would have to change

For BYD to sell here, it would need to certify cars to US safety and emissions rules, the duty on Chinese EVs would have to come down, and the connected-vehicle rule would have to allow its software and hardware. Each of those is a separate decision by a separate agency.

Until then, the closest you can get is knowing what these cars cost elsewhere and what they offer. That's what Car Freedom is for.