Import Duties and Payment Terms for Lab-Grown Diamonds, Explained

Importing loose lab-grown diamonds for the first time raises two sets of questions: what happens at the border, and how money moves. This article frames both as questions to put to your supplier and your customs broker - it is general information, not legal, tax or customs advice, and rates change often enough that anything quoted here should be reconfirmed at the time of shipment.

Key takeaways

• Duty treatment for loose lab-grown diamonds differs by market and has shifted materially in the US since 2025 - verify the current rate before quoting landed cost.
• Letters of credit suit larger orders; advance payment suits small first orders; memo terms are earned, not assumed.
• Incoterms decide who controls customs clearance, insurance and freight risk - state them on the pro forma invoice.
• Documentation consistency (invoice, packing list, certificates, airway bill) prevents most clearance delays.

Question 1: What duty applies in my market, on what classification?

Evidence: Unknown - confirm at quote

United States. This is the market where most has changed. Loose lab-grown diamonds polished in India were excluded from the natural-diamond exemption agreed in the US–India framework announced in February 2026, and remain subject to an 18% reciprocal tariff once the interim agreement takes effect 1. At the time of that announcement the tariff was still at 25% pending formal conclusion, with implementation to be confirmed through official channels 2. Ask your broker: what is the applicable rate today, under which tariff line, and does any origin documentation change it?

Canada, the EU (Belgium), the UAE and the Gulf. Duty treatment varies by trade agreement and product classification, and loose stones, semi-set goods and finished jewellery are often treated differently. Rather than relying on any article - including this one - ask your broker two questions: the MFN duty for loose lab-grown diamonds under the relevant heading in the 7104 chapter, and whether any preferential treatment applies to goods of Indian origin.

Question 2: Who clears customs, and on what Incoterms?

Evidence: Unknown - confirm at quote

On a pro forma invoice, the Incoterm decides whether the seller or the buyer is the importer of record, who pays freight, and where risk transfers. Common arrangements in diamond trade:

Term	What it means for you	When it suits
EXW / FCA Surat	You arrange and pay everything from the factory	You have a freight forwarder and want control
CIF / CIP destination airport	Seller pays freight and insurance to your airport; you clear customs	First orders with an experienced broker
DDP	Seller delivers duty paid to your door	Small, infrequent shipments; check the seller genuinely handles US import compliance

For first orders, CIF to your nearest major airport with your own broker handling clearance is the most common and controllable structure.

Question 3: How will we pay - advance, letter of credit or memo?

Evidence: Unknown - confirm at quote

• Advance payment (TT): the norm for new relationships and small orders. Keep first orders modest, verify certificates before and on receipt, and never pay more than you can afford to lose on an unproven supplier.
• Letter of credit (LC): suited to larger orders where neither party yet extends credit. The bank pays against conforming documents, which protects both sides - but LC costs and document-strictness mean it rarely makes sense below a certain value. Ask your bank what that threshold is for you.
• Memo (consignment): goods shipped for inspection before payment. Established relationships earn memo terms over time; treat any supplier offering generous memo terms to a brand-new customer as a reason for extra verification, not celebration.

Question 4: What documents and insurance travel with the goods?

Evidence: Verified public evidence

Confirm the shipment will carry a commercial invoice, packing list, certificate copies matching the stones, an insured airway bill and - where applicable - any certificates of origin your broker needs. Ask specifically about shipping insurance: high-value parcels should be insured door-to-door by a policy you can see, and the claim procedure should be agreed before the first dispatch, not after a loss.

Question 5: What happens if something goes wrong?

Before the first order, agree the failure path in writing: what counts as a discrepancy (weight, grade, quantity, damage), how many days you have to report it, whether remedy is replacement, credit or refund, and who bears return shipping and insurance. For certified goods, the certificate is the arbiter; for parcel goods, an agreed sampling or full-inspection method should be stated. A supplier who answers these questions readily is one who expects not to need them.

In closing

None of these questions is complicated, but each one left unasked tends to surface at the most expensive possible moment - at customs, or after a wire transfer. Ten minutes with a customs broker and a written payment-terms agreement with your supplier cover the majority of first-import risk. The trade has moved through an unusually turbulent period of tariff changes since 2025, and the buyers who navigate it best are simply the ones who reconfirm, on every order, what they confirmed last time.

For a first wholesale enquiry, use the request-a-quote page.