Tariffs and quotas

This week’s topics

Tariffs and quotas

1. Taxes on imports
2. How they change prices and trade decisions

What you will be able to do

• 1.4 Describe how tariffs affect trade decisions.

Activity

Calculate how a tariff changes the price of an imported product.

Study materials

Further resources

• Introduction to Business 2e, ch. 3.3: Barriers to trade · PDF · OpenStax (2026), tariffs and quotas; pp. 84–85 · for registered students
• Understanding the WTO, ch. 2.2: Tariffs – more bindings and closer to zero · PDF · WTO, one page on tariffs; p. 25 · for registered students
• Principles of Economics 3e, ch. 34.1: Protectionism · PDF · OpenStax (2022), how tariffs and quotas change prices; pp. 812–818 · for registered students
• The Impact of the 2018 Tariffs on Prices and Welfare · Open-access article · Amiti et al. (2019), Journal of Economic Perspectives. Shows who actually paid for the 2018 US tariffs: a clear case study of tariffs in action. · for registered students
• The World Trade Organization: Theory and Practice · Open-access article · Bagwell & Staiger (2010), Annual Review of Economics. Clear survey of what the WTO does, why countries sign trade agreements and how tariffs are negotiated. · for registered students