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→Early History of Tariffs
The Roman Empire had a series of tariffs in different parts of the empire, although generally there was no unified system. There were internal tariffs, which governed goods that moved within the empire. These goods were taxed at rates ranging between 1-5 percent. Foreign goods could be taxed at rates ranging between 12-25 percent. This often made luxury goods well beyond the means of average Romans. Silk from China, for instance, was in high demand but could mostly only be afforded by the upper elites.
In the Medieval period, around the 13th century, we begin to see more regulation of tariff costs for specific commodities. Wool, for instance, was heavily regulated in England in the 13th and 14th centuries. Other commodities, such as skins and leather, lead, tin, butter, cheese, lard and grease, were levied as well. However, rather than a specified rate, often the taxes were based on the container of the commodity of trade. For instance, a sack of wool was levied at roughly 6 shillings and 8 pence. This could allow merchants, of course, to cheat more easily by switching commodities in sacks, which were taxed at variable rates, or containers were smuggled without a tax. Ports and trade routes were often levied to directly benefit the crown. This tradition in England, nevertheless, began to influence the rise and development of the modern concept of tariffs that occurred as Britain expanded into an empire in the 17th and 18th centuries.
==Modern Tariffs==
