Sum with substr in Python

[Scott]

Hi everyone,

I am a SAS user and it has a very useful function call substr. I cannot find an equivalent for Pandas or Python.

I am trying to sum a variable where another string variables first two letters = '08'

my attempt is below:

data.loc[data.Hs_code[0:1] == '08'].Imports_vfd.sum()

My error:TypeError: invalid type comparison

Any help is appreciated
Thanks