Specific Tariffs

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A specific tariff is a set tax rate on imported goods applied to each unit equally (Carbaugh, 2013). An example would be the United States has a specific tax rate of $50 for every DVD player imported from South Korea, if they import 200 DVD players then they would pay $10,000 in tax to the United States government. The advantage of a specific tax is that is easy to understand with a straightforward process for administering, especially on goods that have an intangible value (Carbaugh, 2013). A disadvantage for the specific tariff is that it does not take the imported value into account making it difficult to provide protection for domestic suppliers (Carbaugh, 2013). The specific tariff can help to protect domestic supplier when the economy is in decline because it allows for a cushion against the importers who want to cut prices (Carbaugh, 2013). Another disadvantage of the specific tariff is that it does not adjust to changing prices in the market which could result in lost revenues for importers if prices go up and lost revenues for exporters if prices go down because they will always pay the same rate…show more content…
An example would be when Germany charges 5% ad valorem on televisions imported into the country. If 500 televisions are imported at a price of $300,000 regardless of model then the importer would pay $15,000 in ad valorem tax. An advantage of the ad valorem tax is that establishes a percent to collect based on the value of goods, so as prices fluctuate it still collects the same percentage (Carbaugh, 2013). A disadvantage to ad valorem tariffs is that they can be hard to calculate especially on goods that have intangible prices or prices that are hard to identify (Carbaugh, 2013). Another disadvantage of ad valorem tariff comes when exporters underprice their goods in order to get around the fees (Sanders,
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