tariff

From French tarif, from Italian tariffa, from Ottoman Turkish تعرفه (ta'rife), from Classical Persian تَعْرِفَه (ta'rifa), from Arabic تَعْرِفَة (taʕrifa, “tariff, rate”), from the root ع ر ف (ʕ r f).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtæɹɪf/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈtæɹəf/, (Mary–marry–merry merger) /ˈtɛɹəf/^[1]
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈtæɹəf/

tariff (plural tariffs)

1. A system of government-imposed duties levied on imported or exported goods; a list of such duties, or the duties themselves.
   • 2004, Michael B Gross, The war against Catholicism:

     For the sake of this support, the party advocated for agricultural tariffs, for antimargarine laws, and for restrictions on meat importation.

   • 2012, Bert van Selm, The Economics of Soviet Breakup:

     Possibly Wallonians bought goods in Flanders that they could have obtained cheaper in Holland if it were not for the tariff.

   • 2022 May 8, Katie Lobosco, “Trump’s trade war looms over soybean farmers 4 years later”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     It’s been nearly four years since China put tariffs on American-grown soybeans during a tit-for-tat trade war with then-President Donald Trump – and they remain in place despite the change in administrations.

   • 2025 May 23, David Goldman and Clare Duffy, “Trump threatens 25% tariff on Apple and says Samsung and other tech companies could be next”, in CNN‎^[2]:

     Speaking to press in the Oval Office on Friday after signing executive orders, Trump said the tariff would apply to any phone maker selling devices in the US.

2. A schedule of rates, fees or prices.

   Under a peak/off-peak electricity tariff, you pay a lower rate for the power when demand is less.

   • 1906, Department of Commerce and Labor. Bureau of Manufactures, Monthly Consular and Trade Reports (number 313, page 75)

     There is a tariff in every carriage, and most of them also have taxometers.

3. (British) A sentence determined according to a scale of standard penalties for certain categories of crime.

tariff (third-person singular simple present tariffs, present participle tariffing, simple past and past participle tariffed)

1. (transitive) To levy a duty on (something).
   • 2024 December 5, Madison Minges, “Understanding Trump Tariffs 2.0”, in American University‎^[3]:

     From the perspective of foreign producers, it is more difficult to export tariffed goods to the US because US importers have to pay the tariff.

From German Tarif, from Italian tariffa, from Arabic تَعْرِيف (taʕrīf).

tariff m (definite singular tariffen, indefinite plural tariffer, definite plural tariffene)

1. tariff, scale, table of rates or charges
2. wage scale, wage agreement

• tariffavtale

• “tariff” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From German Tarif, from Italian tariffa, from Arabic تَعْرِيف (taʕrīf).

tariff m (definite singular tariffen, indefinite plural tariffar, definite plural tariffane)

1. tariff, scale, table of rates or charges
2. wage scale, wage agreement

• tariffavtale

• “tariff” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.