2008.99.45

Analysis

HTS 2008.99.45 covers papayas: pulp under heading 2008 (fruit, nuts and other edible parts of plants, otherwise prepared or preserved, whether or…).

Within this group the rate runs from duty-free to 22.4%. Compared with 2008.99.71 (chinese water chestnuts: other), which pays duty-free, a misclassification either way moves the duty by 14 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 14%. 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 14% of the customs value, which is above most the rates in chapter 20 (83rd percentile of 107 lines with an ad valorem rate). On a shipment valued at $10,000 that is $1,400 in duty before any Chapter 99 additions or preference claims.

The column 2 rate, for countries without normal trade relations, is 35%, 2.5 times the general rate.

Census statistics map these goods to NAICS 311421 (Fruit and Vegetable Canning), an industry of 802 US establishments employing 44,903 people. That concordance is how imports of this line are compared with US output.