If a government wishes to impose a tariff in order to raise revenues, then will a higher tariff always result in a higher revenue? Please give an explanation.
Magnitude of tariff revenue to be collected by the government depends on the elasticity of demand for the imported good on which tariff is being imposed.
If demand for the imported good is inelastic then in such case increase in price of imported good due to tariff will not result in much decrease in demand and therefore government would be able to earn substantial tariff revenue.
On the other hand, if demand for the imported good is elastic then in such case increase in price of imported good due to tariff will result in significant decrease in demand and therefore government would be able to earn small amount of tariff revenue.
So,
If a government wishes to impose a tariff in order to raise revenues, then a higher tariff will not always result in a higher revenue.
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