A short history
• 1947 - General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) signed
• 1993 - North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) PL 103-182 signed
• 1994 - World Trade Organization (WTO) created
Key Definitions
• A trade bloc is a group of allied countries agreeing to minimize or eliminate tariffs against trade with each other, and possibly to impose protective tariffs on imports from outside the bloc.
• A customs union has a common external tariff, and, according to an agreed formula, the participating countries share the revenues from tariffs on goods entering the customs union.
Some types of tariffs:
• An ad valorem tariff is a fixed percentage of the value of the good that is being imported. Sometimes these are problematic as when the international price of a good falls, so does the tariff and domestic industries become more vulnerable to competition. Conversely, when the price of a good rises on the international market so does the tariff, but a country is often less interested in protection when the price is higher.
• A specific tariff is a tariff of a specific amount of money that does not vary with the price of the good. These tariffs may be harder to decide the amount at which to set them, and they may need to be updated due to the changes in the market or inflation.
The opposition to tariffs
Some economic theories hold that tariffs are a harmful interference with the individual freedom and the laws of the free market. The opposition to all tariffs is known as the so-called free trade principle. The World Trade Organization aims to reduce tariffs and to avoid countries discriminating between other countries when applying tariffs.
Tariffs in the US
The Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), made effective on January 1, 1989, comprises a hierarchical structure for describing all goods in trade for duty, quota, and statistical purposes. This structure is based upon the international Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS), administered by the World Customs Organization.
For more on HTS, click
here
For more on HS, click
here
If anybody wants to add to this tariffs section please feel free!
Sources: Wikipedia, United States International Trade Commission
