← Legal Glossary
Regulatory Tariff vs. Revenue-Raising Tariff
Definition
A regulatory tariff is imposed primarily to influence behavior — such as discouraging imports or pressuring foreign governments to negotiate — rather than to generate government revenue. A revenue-raising tariff is imposed primarily to collect money for the treasury. The distinction matters because revenue-raising implicates Congress's exclusive taxing power.
Examples
- •The government insisted the IEEPA tariffs were regulatory because they would be most effective if nobody ever paid them; challengers noted they were projected to raise $4 trillion