Import from Germany before split (5)
I believe the answer is:
drift
'import' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'germany before split' is the wordplay.
'germany' becomes 'd' (international vehicle registration code).
'before' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'split' becomes 'rift' (I've seen this before**).
'd'+'rift'='DRIFT'
'from' is the link.
(Other definitions for drift that I've seen before include "Bank (of snow)" , "General idea (of snow?)" , "(Of snow) blow into heaps" , "Go with the current" , "Be powerless to control movement" .)