Customs duties on import: economic meaning and types.

The regulation of foreign economic relations is the most important task of any state, as the country interacts with the outside world through the WEO, in fact, thanks to the WEO, the relations of the country's economic system with the geographically and economically external environment - the world economy. One of the ways to regulate WEO are customs duties on the import of goods, intellectual values, the acquisition of services by residents and so on. In this article we will consider the economic meaning of duties and their types.

Why does it make sense to talk specifically about customs duties on import, and not mention the export of goods? The fact is that in their activities each state seeks to maximize the inflow of currency values, and this can be done by exporting as much goods as possible, and importing as little as possible, so that the currency will come, but will not leave the national economy. The only case when the country is not interested in exporting, may be the export of currency, cultural values and minerals. In all other cases, the principle of "exporting more - importing less" works flawlessly. Duties on the import of goods and services are a form of economic regulation of foreign economic policy. Other means of regulation are administrative measures, such as the establishment of quotas or the imposition of an embargo on trade with certain partners.

Customs duties on import can pursue various purposes, among which two can be identified as basic. These goals are to reduce the volume of imports and generate income.

The decrease in the volume of imports through the establishment of duties occurs as follows: since the importer is obliged to pay a duty when importing goods into the country, it will include it in the price of goods sold on the domestic market. Naturally, this will serve as an occasion for price increase, and through the mechanism of the law of demand will lead to a decrease in demand for this imported commodity and a corresponding increase in demand for domestic substitute goods. Thus, the competitiveness of the domestic industry for the production of certain goods will increase substantially. As a rule, in order to significantly reduce the volume of imports, it is necessary to establish high duties, such as the customs duty for the import of cars.

If duties are aimed at obtaining additional revenues for the purpose of filling the budget, then a lower rate of duty is set, which will not reduce the demand for imported goods so significantly, but at the expense of the quantity of goods purchased will bring substantial revenues. Customs duties on import, established for the purpose of obtaining additional income, work best on goods of zero elasticity, that is, absolutely insensitive to price changes, for example, rare medications such as insulin. Also, higher duties, which will not lead to a significant decrease in demand, can be introduced to imported luxury goods: sports cars, expensive alcohol, tobacco, jewelry items of famous designers and other objects, the cost of which indicates that a person who is able to buy them, Can afford not to think about how to pay an extra thousand dollars for a liked thing. Customs duties on the import of such goods bring the greatest revenue to the treasury.

Also, there are tariffs with one and two columns. The tariff of one column means that for import from all countries the same rates of duties apply, tariffs with two columns mean the existence of some preferences or, conversely, restrictions for certain countries.