Customs Tax
Customs duties or tariffs, which are taxes levied on goods that are imported by another. Many countries use tariffs to protect their industry from foreign competition. Tariffs provide protection by raising the prices of imported goods. Thus, tariffs encourage domestic enterprises to increase their production, and consumers are forced to pay higher prices if they desire imported goods. Export tariffs are sometimes used in some countries to increase government revenue and a country may use a tariff to influence or protest the economic or political policies of some other countries.
Countries set the tariff amount in different ways. Some of them may have trade agreements that include a clause providing preferential treatment for some countries, and under this clause they impose the lowest normal tariff rates in their country for all signatory countries. Special preferential tariffs, usually lower than the general preferential tariff, can be imposed to encourage imports from less developed countries. Countries that form a customs union remove tariffs from trade between them, and may also have a common tariff covering trade with countries that are not members of the customs union. The common market has the same tariff policy as the Customs Union, but provides for greater cooperation between members. As for the countries of the free trade zone, they impose tariffs on trade between them, but each country can impose the customs tariff it wants on non-members.
