Analysis
HTS 1008.40.00 covers fonio (Digitaria spp.) under heading 1008 (buckwheat, millet and canary seeds; other cereals (including wild rice)).
Neighbouring lines carry rates from duty-free to 1.1%, so the exact line matters. The widest gap is with 1008.10.00 (buckwheat, millet and canary seeds; other cereals (including wild…), at duty-free: a product that belongs there but is entered here, or the reverse, changes the duty by 1.1 percentage points.
The general duty rate is 1.1% of the customs value, which is in the middle of the rates in chapter 10 (67th percentile of 12 lines with an ad valorem rate). On a shipment valued at $10,000 that is $110 in duty before any Chapter 99 additions or preference claims.
Goods that qualify under GSP, the Australia FTA, the Bahrain FTA, the Chile FTA, the Colombia TPA, and 12 others can enter duty-free instead of paying 1.1%. It is also eligible under GSP, the developing-country programme, which Congress has to renew; check whether GSP is in force on the entry date.
Census statistics map these goods to NAICS 111199 (All Other Grain Farming). That is the industry code a US manufacturer of the same product would normally use.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1008.10.00 | Buckwheat, millet and canary seeds; other cereals (including wild rice): buckwheat | Free |
| 1008.21.00 | Millet: seed | 0.32¢/kg |
| 1008.29.00 | Millet: other | 0.32¢/kg |
| 1008.30.00 | Buckwheat, millet and canary seeds; other cereals (including wild rice): canary seeds | 0.12¢/kg |
| 1008.50.00 | Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) | 1.1% |
| 1008.60.00 | Buckwheat, millet and canary seeds; other cereals (including wild rice): triticale | 1.1% |
| 1008.90.01 | Buckwheat, millet and canary seeds; other cereals (including wild rice): other cereals (including wild rice) | 1.1% |