1903.00.40

Analysis

HTS 1903.00.40 covers tapioca and substitutes therefor prepared from starch, in the form of flakes, grains, pearls, siftings or in similar forms: other under heading 1903 (tapioca and substitutes therefor prepared from starch, in the form of flakes, grains…).

The general rate is 0.8¢/kg, a specific or compound duty rather than a simple percentage, so the effective burden depends on the unit value of the goods: cheap goods pay proportionally more than expensive ones. Importers usually convert it to an ad valorem equivalent to compare it with other lines.

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 0.8¢/kg. 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 other line in the same group is 1903.00.20 (of arrowroot, cassava or sago, duty-free).

Census statistics map these goods to NAICS 311221 (Wet Corn Milling and Starch Manufacturing), an industry of 70 US establishments employing 7,467 people. That concordance is how imports of this line are compared with US output.