The reason the uke is in Canada, is because the person who commissioned it lives in Canada. I just purchased it from her. I will be visiting friends and family in the USA soon and asked it be be shipped to my first vacation stop. That's the back story.
The reason for mentioning the wood origin was because of the various laws around the world that prohibit importing 'endangered species'. If you travel with high end instruments, some customs inspectors in certain countries will impound it. Luckily the US has recently modified their law so that it doesn't focus on people like you and me (players).
Re the duty bit, I thought that it depended on the 'country of origin' of the item. As it was made in the USA, I thought that would exempt it from US duty.
Thanks all for the quick replies.