the discussion on tariffs has been dominated by protective tariffs. there is also a type of tariff which is primarily intended to raise revenue. in fact, much of the federal budget was funded by revenue tariffs before the advent of the income tax.
revenue tariffs were generally a low ad valorem rate (low=5% or less), and had only a minor protective effect.
“if you tax something, you will have less of it. if you subsidize something you will have more of it.”
…greenspan, i think.
i think our economy would be much healthier if our tax structure taxed consumption (revenue tariffs, sales taxes) rather than production (income taxes).