tariff

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a tax imposed by a government on goods imported from or exported to another country

   The government introduced a tariff on imported steel to protect domestic producers.

2. 2
   noun

   an official schedule or system of prices and charges

   The utility offers a cheaper overnight electricity tariff.

3. 3
   verb

   to impose a tariff on goods or services

   The proposal would tariff luxury imports at twenty percent.

From Italian tariffa, an arithmetical table or list of customs duties, through forms also found in French, Spanish, and Portuguese. The Italian word came from Arabic ta'rif, notification or explanation; English records the customs sense from the late sixteenth century.

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