Analysis
HTS 1604.31.00 covers caviar and caviar substitutes: caviar under heading 1604 (prepared or preserved fish; caviar and caviar substitutes prepared from fish eggs).
Neighbouring lines carry rates from duty-free to 35%, so the exact line matters. The widest gap is with 1604.14.10 (in airtight containers: in oil), at 35%: a product that belongs there but is entered here, or the reverse, changes the duty by 20 percentage points.
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 15%. 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.
The general duty rate is 15% of the customs value, which is among the highest the rates in chapter 16 (97th percentile of 108 lines with an ad valorem rate). On a shipment valued at $10,000 that is $1,500 in duty before any Chapter 99 additions or preference claims.
The column 2 rate, for countries without normal trade relations, is 30%, 2.0 times the general rate.
Neighbouring lines
| Line | Description | General rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1604.11.20 | In oil, in airtight containers | 6% |
| 1604.11.40 | Salmon: other | Free |
| 1604.12.20 | In oil, in airtight containers | 4% |
| 1604.12.40 | In tomato sauce, smoked or kippered, and in immediate containers weighing with their contents over 0.45 kg each | Free |
| 1604.12.60 | Other: other | Free |
| 1604.13.10 | Smoked sardines, neither skinned nor boned, valued $1 or more per kg in tin- plate containers, or $1.10 or more per kg in other containers | Free |
| 1604.13.20 | Neither skinned nor boned | 15% |
| 1604.13.30 | Other: skinned or boned | 20% |
| 1604.13.40 | In immediate containers weighing with their contents under 225 grams each | Free |
| 1604.13.90 | Other: other | 3.1% |
| 1604.14.10 | In airtight containers: in oil | 35% |
| 1604.14.22 | In containers weighing with their contents not over 7 kg each, and not the product of any insular possession of the United States, for an aggregate quantity entered in any calendar year not to exceed 4.8 percent of apparent United States consumption of tuna in airtight containers during the immediately preceding year, as reported by the National Marine Fisheries Service | 6% |
| 1604.14.30 | Not in oil: other | 12.5% |
| 1604.14.40 | In bulk or in immediate containers weighing with their contents over 6.8 kg each, not in oil | 1.1¢/kg |
| 1604.14.50 | Not in airtight containers: other | 6% |
| 1604.14.70 | Bonito (Sarda spp.): in oil | 4.9% |
| 1604.14.80 | Bonito (Sarda spp.): not in oil | 6% |
| 1604.15.00 | Fish, whole or in pieces, but not minced: mackerel | 3% |
| 1604.16.20 | In oil, in airtight containers | Free |
| 1604.16.40 | In immediate containers weighing with their contents 6.8 kg or less each | 5% |
| 1604.16.60 | Other: other | Free |
| 1604.17.10 | In airtight containers | 4% |
| 1604.17.40 | Neither cooked nor in oil | 10% |
| 1604.17.50 | Fish sticks and similar products of any size or shape, fillets or other portions of fish, if breaded, coated with batter or similarly prepared: other | 7.5% |
| 1604.17.60 | In oil and in bulk or in immediate containers over 7 kg each | Free |
| 1604.17.80 | Other: other | 6% |
| 1604.18.10 | In airtight containers | 4% |
| 1604.18.90 | Shark fins: other | 6% |
| 1604.19.10 | Bonito, yellowtail and pollock | 4% |
| 1604.19.22 | Not in oil: other | 4% |
| 1604.19.25 | Bonito, yellowtail and pollock | 5% |
| 1604.19.32 | In oil: other | 4% |
| 1604.19.41 | Neither cooked nor in oil | 10% |
| 1604.19.51 | Fish sticks and similar products of any size or shape, fillets or other portions of fish, if breaded, coated with batter or similarly prepared: other | 7.5% |
| 1604.19.61 | In oil and in bulk or in immediate containers weighing with their contents over 7 kg each | Free |
| 1604.19.82 | Other: other | 6% |
| 1604.20.05 | Products containing meat of crustaceans, molluscs or other aquatic invertebrates; prepared meals | 5% |
| 1604.20.10 | Other: pastes | Free |
| 1604.20.15 | Balls, cakes and puddings: in oil | Free |
| 1604.20.20 | In airtight containers | Free |