as in levies
a payment that must be made to the government in order to import or export certain goods
The Townshend Acts, which imposed a tariff on many goods imported to North America, indirectly led to the American Revolution.
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Recent Examples of tariffs
Even after import tariffs—which are manufacturer-specific and based on the subsidies received by each firm from the Chinese government—Chinese EVs can still be significantly cheaper than European rivals.
—
Andrew Saunders, Fortune, 15 Oct. 2025
Faced with a deluge of Chinese competitors, debt issues and the collapse of a sale to Amazon, American home robotics company iRobot is in some trouble at the moment at the corporate level, and all the import tariffs of the rainbow may not be able to help, since iRobot manufactures in Asia.
—Loz Blain
october 14, New Atlas, 14 Oct. 2025
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins previously signaled that farmworkers could receive revenue generated from tariffs to mitigate the rise in costs.
—Ashleigh Fields, The Hill, 14 Oct. 2025
What’s more, despite the president’s insistence to the contrary, tariffs are driving up inflation, the note said, with the rate expected to hit 3 percent by December, a full point above the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent goal.
—Kate Nishimura, Sourcing Journal, 14 Oct. 2025
Powell said available data has showed that goods prices have increased, largely a function of tariffs rather than underlying inflation pressures.
—Jeff Cox, CNBC, 14 Oct. 2025
Yet some furniture executives worry that this help from the federal government will do more harm than good to an industry grappling with notoriously thin profit margins, a shortage of skilled workers and whiplash from other tariffs.
—Matt Egan, CNN Money, 14 Oct. 2025
The mood has soured recently, though, with each side imposing additional curbs; new US tariffs come into effect today.
—Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 14 Oct. 2025
Whether tariffs, labor or tax cuts, or a tepid outlook on interest rate cuts, people hope for a better year, with a dose of what's next.
—Erik Logan, Forbes, 24 Dec. 2024
Andrew Saunders, Fortune, 15 Oct. 2025
Faced with a deluge of Chinese competitors, debt issues and the collapse of a sale to Amazon, American home robotics company iRobot is in some trouble at the moment at the corporate level, and all the import tariffs of the rainbow may not be able to help, since iRobot manufactures in Asia.
—Loz Blain
october 14, New Atlas, 14 Oct. 2025
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins previously signaled that farmworkers could receive revenue generated from tariffs to mitigate the rise in costs.
—Ashleigh Fields, The Hill, 14 Oct. 2025
What’s more, despite the president’s insistence to the contrary, tariffs are driving up inflation, the note said, with the rate expected to hit 3 percent by December, a full point above the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent goal.
—Kate Nishimura, Sourcing Journal, 14 Oct. 2025
Powell said available data has showed that goods prices have increased, largely a function of tariffs rather than underlying inflation pressures.
—Jeff Cox, CNBC, 14 Oct. 2025
Yet some furniture executives worry that this help from the federal government will do more harm than good to an industry grappling with notoriously thin profit margins, a shortage of skilled workers and whiplash from other tariffs.
—Matt Egan, CNN Money, 14 Oct. 2025
The mood has soured recently, though, with each side imposing additional curbs; new US tariffs come into effect today.
—Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 14 Oct. 2025
Whether tariffs, labor or tax cuts, or a tepid outlook on interest rate cuts, people hope for a better year, with a dose of what's next.
—Erik Logan, Forbes, 24 Dec. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tariffs
Noun
-
Both Washington and Beijing on Tuesday began charging new tit-for-tat port fees on each other’s ships; the levies are part of a ballooning economic conflict between the countries that flared up last week, cooled slightly over the weekend, and ramped back up Tuesday.—
J.D. Capelouto,
semafor.com,
14 Oct. 2025
-
The moves between the world’s two largest economies have rattled markets, unnerved global industries of production shocks, and rekindled fears of a repeat of the tit-for-tat tariff offense in spring, when levies on Chinese and American imports reached levels tantamount to trade embargoes.—
John Liu,
CNN Money,
14 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The move would raise total duties on imports from China to around 130% – effectively a trade embargo and just shy of the 145% peak reached at the height of the trade war this spring.—
John Liu,
CNN Money,
13 Oct. 2025
-
Trump stated that this tariff will be added on top of existing import duties, ratcheting up the temperature of this latest trade war battle.—
Josh Brown,Sean Russo,
CNBC,
13 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tariffs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tariffs. Accessed 19 Oct. 2025.
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