A tariff database is a list of taxes applied to goods, used by importers to calculate import duty and by exporters to set prices. Tariffs can be used for revenue or to influence trade, and protectionism uses high tariffs to encourage domestic production. The database is an electronic version of a statutory register of tariff rates, which can be complicated. The Harmonized System is used by most countries to ensure the same reference codes for goods, making it easier for companies to check tariff databases in other countries and collect global trade statistics.
A tariff database is a detailed listing of the tariffs applied to particular types of goods. Importers will regularly consult a tariff database so they can calculate how much import duty they will have to pay on a product and factor this amount into their financial planning. Exporters will use this database to decide what price to charge foreign customers, knowing that customers will have to pay this rate.
A tariff is usually a tax levied on imports of a specific good, although it can be levied on exports. In some cases, tariffs may simply be used as a general revenue-raising tool for a government. In other cases, tariffs may be an attempt to influence prices and thereby influence trade. The intentional use of high tariffs to dissuade citizens from buying imported goods, thereby increasing the activity of domestic producers, is known as protectionism.
The rate database will normally be a more accessible version of a document known as a rate card. This is the statutory register of tariff rates. The database simply turns it into a form that can easily be accessed electronically. Finding the program in hard copy can be extremely complicated, as the arrangement of the lists is not always in an order that a particular importer would find logical.
A fare database is usually an extremely complicated and detailed set of data. For example, the various US tariff databases work from a document known as the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. This contains more than 17,000 categories of goods. For example, vulcanized drive V-belts alone are classified into eight different categories, depending on their size, whether they are ribbed, and whether they contain other materials.
Most countries participate in a system known as the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, otherwise known as the Harmonized System. This means that all the countries concerned use the same reference codes for the same type of goods. In the system, all countries follow a list of four-digit codes for general categories of goods, and then another two digits to cover sub-categories. The idea of this system is to make sure it is easier for companies in one country to check the details of a tariff database in another country. The system also allows for easier collection of data such as global trade statistics.
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