Tariff
A tax on imported goods. Trade policy, revenue tool, and weapon of diplomacy and war. (see also Embargo or Sanction)
How We Say It
tar·if
Where It Comes From
Arabic ta'rif — notification, inventory, price list. Entered European languages through Italian and Spanish trading contact with the Arab world. The original meaning was simply a schedule of prices or fees.
How It's Been Used
Tariffs are among the oldest instruments of economic policy — used to protect domestic industries from foreign competition, to raise government revenue, and as leverage in trade negotiations. The Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930, which raised duties on thousands of imported goods, is widely blamed for deepening the Great Depression by triggering retaliatory tariffs from trading partners. In contemporary politics, tariffs have been used by both parties as tools of economic nationalism — their distributional effects (who bears the cost) are routinely obscured in political debate.