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Definition: tariff from Philip's Encyclopedia

Tax placed on imports, calculated either as a percentage of the value of the item (ad valorem tariff) or per unit (specific duty). Tariffs may be used to discourage the import of certain types of goods or to adjust for price differentials in order to allow the home country's products to be competitive.

tariff

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
tax on imported and, more rarely, exported goods. It is also called a customs duty. Tariffs may be distinguished from other taxes in that their predominant purpose is not financial but economic—not to increase a nation's revenue but to protect domestic industries from foreign competition. For that reason, protective tariffs, as they are often called, are opposed by advocates of free trade . See also protection . Those customs duties that are still imposed today are usually either one of two types—specific duty, a tax levied on the quantity, whether by weight, size, or number, of the goods; or ad valorem duty, a percentage of the foreign or domestic price. The ad valorem duty is generally considered to be preferable but more difficult to levy, requiring complex procedures to determine the value of goods. Specific duties are best applied for protectionist purposes, since their size varies inversely with the prices of imports. For example, an import taxed at $5 per ton, and costing $100…
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Full text Article tariff

From Collins Dictionary of Business
a TAX (import duty) levied by a country on IMPORTS of products from foreign countries which may increase their prices in the domestic market. There are two main types of tariff; an ad valorem duty which is levied as a fixed percentage of the value of the product; a specific duty which is levied as a…
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Full text Article tariffs

From The Princeton Encyclopedia of the World Economy
Tariffs are taxes levied on imported or, less often, exported goods when they cross the border between one customs territory and another. The use of customs duties, a synonym for import tariffs, can be traced back to the Babylonian civilization (18th to 6th centuries BCE). In the 20th century, …
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Full text Article tariffs

From Encyclopedia of American Business History
Taxes imposed on the import of foreign goods. Traditionally, they have been enacted to protect segments of the domestic economy from foreign competition or to raise revenues. Tariffs have existed in one form or other since the late 18th century The power to enact tariffs is found in the Constitution…
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Full text Article tariff

From Routledge Dictionary of Economics
tariff
A price . A charge . An import tax. The superiority of a tariff to import licensing arises from its lower administrative costs and the production of revenue; few tariffs succeed in excluding all imports and so they earn revenue. As a form of taxation, tariffs have been used from earliest recorded…
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Full text Article tariff

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
tax on imported and, more rarely, exported goods. It is also called a customs duty. Tariffs may be distinguished from other taxes in that their predominant purpose is not financial but economic—not to increase a nation's revenue but to protect domestic industries from foreign competition. For that…
| 609 words
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Full text Article TARIFF

From Dictionary of Youth Justice
There are two distinct operational definitions of tariff: first, the minimum length of time a person must serve in custody – following a conviction for murder – before he or she becomes eligible for parole; and second, the notion that a hierarchy – or ladder – applies to the full range of sentencing…
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Full text Article Tariffs

From Encyclopedia of World Trade: From Ancient Times to the Present Full text Article A-Z Entries
A tax imposed by a government on international trade. Tariffs generate revenue, but they may also protect domestic industries. Historically, there are three types of tariff: transit, export, and import duties. Import duties, a tax on imported manufactures or commodities, are the most common and…
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Full text Article Tariffs

From Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History
A tariff is a tax charged on imports, either on the basis of quantity (specific tariffs) or on the basis of value ( ad valorem tariffs). Tariffs can be levied directly (as when goods pass into a country) or indirectly (as when requiring that a license or permit be purchased before the goods can be…
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Full text Article Tariffs

From The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Business, Labor, and Economic History
Tariffs have a long premodern history, but in U.S. history they have served two primary purposes: (1) to protect the domestic economy and specific economic sectors from foreign competition and (2) to raise government revenues. Even before the founding of the United States, British attempts to…
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Full text Article TARIFF

From The Reader's Companion to American History
A customs duty is a tax on commodities crossing a political boundary. A tariff, technically, is a schedule of such taxes, but the terms are often used interchangeably. In American politics the “tariff question” was a major, often passionate, political issue from the dawn of the Republic until modern…
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