GC: n
S: BBC – https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn93e12rypgo (last access: 15 March 2025); EC – https://trade.ec.europa.eu/access-to-markets/en/content/tariffs-0 (last access: 15 March 2025).
N: 1. 1590s, “arithmetical table,” also “official list or table of customs duties on goods for import or export;” also “a law regulating import duties,” from Italian tariffa “tariff, price, assessment,” Medieval Latin tarifa “list of prices, book of rates,” ultimately from Arabic ta’rif “information, notification, a making known; inventory of fees to be paid,” verbal noun from arafa “he made known, he taught.” A word passed to English from the commercial jargon of the medieval Mediterranean (compare garble, jar (n.), average (perhaps), orange, tabby, etc.).
2. tariff, also known as customs duty, duty.
- tariff, tax levied upon goods as they cross national boundaries, usually by the government of the importing country. The words tariff, duty, and customs can be used interchangeably.
- Objectives of tariffs
Tariffs may be levied either to raise revenue or to protect domestic industries, but a tariff designed primarily to raise revenue also may exercise a strong protective influence, while a tariff levied primarily for protection may yield revenue. Gottfried von Haberler in The Theory of International Trade (1937) suggested that the best way to distinguish between revenue duties and protective duties (disregarding the motives of the legislators) is to compare their effects on domestic versus foreign producers. (See protectionism.)
3. Customs and Excise; Foreign Trade: customs duty, customs tariff, tariff.
- A charge levied at the border on goods entering or, much less often, leaving the country.
- There are two main categories of customs duties: ad valorem duties, expressed as a percentage of the value, and specific duties, expressed as a specific amount per unit.
- customs tariff; tariff: designations mostly used in the United States.
- customs duty; customs tariff; tariff: designations usually used in the plural.
- French equivalents: droit de douane, droit douanier, tarif douanier.
- Spanish equivalent: derecho aduanero, derecho de aduana, derecho arancelario.
4. Foreign Trade; Customs and Excise: tariff measures, tariffs.
- Within the tool-box of trade-related measures that could promote green industry development, border measures such as tariffs are a key instrument. Tariffs are measures applied at the border to products imported from other countries. They usually take the form of a custom duty …
- French equivalent: mesures tarifaires.
- Spanish equivalent: medida arancelaria.
5. Customs and Excise; Foreign Trade: customs tariff, tariff
- A comprehensive list … of merchandise with the rate of duty to be paid to the government for importing products listed …
- French equivalents: tarif douanier, tarif.
- Spanish equivalents: arancel aduanero, arancel de aduanas, arancel.
S: 1. Etymonline – https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=tariff (last access: 15 March 2025). 2. EncBrit – https://www.britannica.com/money/tariff (last access: 15 March 2025). 3 to 5. TERMIUM PLUS – https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng&i=1&srchtxt=TARIFF&index=alt&codom2nd_wet=1#resultrecs (last access: 15 March 2025).
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CR: moratorium
