Tariff Tariff is a tax placed on goods that one nation imports from another. Many nations use tariffs to protect their industries from foreign competition.
Tariffs provide protection by acting to raise the price of imported goods.
Thus, tariffs encourage domestic firms to increase their production, and consumers are forced to pay higher prices for the protected goods. Tariffs on exports from the United States are prohibited by the U.S. Constitution. But such tariffs are sometimes used in other countries to raise revenue. A nation may also use tariffs to influence, or protest against, political or economic policies of other countries. Nations set their tariff rates in various ways.