tariff
Americannoun
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an official list or table showing the duties or customs imposed by a government on imports or exports.
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the schedule or system of duties so imposed.
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any duty or rate of duty in such a list or schedule.
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any table of charges, as of a railroad, bus line, etc.
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bill; cost; charge.
verb (used with object)
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to subject to a tariff.
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to put a valuation on according to a tariff.
noun
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a tax levied by a government on imports or occasionally exports for purposes of protection, support of the balance of payments, or the raising of revenue
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a system or list of such taxes
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any schedule of prices, fees, fares, etc
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a method of charging for the supply of services, esp public services, such as gas and electricity
block tariff
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a schedule of such charges
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a bill of fare with prices listed; menu
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the level of punishment imposed for a criminal offence
verb
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to set a tariff on
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to set a price on according to a schedule of tariffs
Usage
What does tariff mean? A tariff is a tax or duty on products that come into a country (imports) or leave it (exports), imposed by the country’s government. A tariff is also the list of taxes a government imposes on imports and exports. To tariff can mean to subject to a tariff. Example: There is a high tariff on foreign music CDs, so I just stream it instead.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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tariffsimple
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tariffssimple
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have tariffedperfect
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has tariffedperfect
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am tariffingprogressive
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are tariffingprogressive
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is tariffingprogressive
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have been tariffingperfect progressive
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has been tariffingperfect progressive
Past
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tariffedsimple
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had tariffedperfect
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was tariffingprogressive
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were tariffingprogressive
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had been tariffingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tariff
First recorded in 1585–95; earlier tariffa, from Italian, from Arabic taʿrīfah, derivative of ʿarrafa “to make known,” akin to ʿarafa “to know”
Explanation
A tariff is a kind of tax on goods a country imports or exports. If you want to buy a European-made car in the U.S., the price will include tariffs the government adds to the price of imported vehicles. Usually a government imposes a tariff to encourage its own industries and to discourage buying cheaper imports from other countries. If a government wants to protect its own clothing industry, it may add a tariff to imported clothing, to make sure that the imported clothes aren't cheaper than the locally manufactured items. You can control exports, too, by imposing tariffs. As a verb, you can say "the government tariffs certain imports and exports."
Vocabulary lists containing tariff
American History I
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The American Revolution - Introductory
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The United States
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Alphabet’s losses spread to other tech stocks, sending the Magnificent Seven to their biggest collective one-day drop in market value since the tariff turmoil last April.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
All eyes are on Taylor Farms and their contaminated lettuce, Trump tries a new tariff tactic, and Japan’s prime minister claims to barely sleep.
From Slate ● Jul. 25, 2026
While countries have expressed disappointment, Cutler said, there are no signs of retaliation, "knowing full well they would risk further US tariff escalation."
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
“The focus is likely to shift towards exemptions, country-specific negotiations, sectoral investigations and the risk of additional tariff rounds,” he added.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
The tariff controversy was settled, but it hinted at a greater problem.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
It also comes as uncertainty remains over the tit-for-tat US-China tariffs wars, which is currently paused.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Learning Resources was the lead plaintiff in the legal challenge that torpedoed the earlier batch of tariffs, and this week filed suit over the new tariffs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
A tumultuous year marred by wildfires, tariffs, immigration raids, increasing rent and labor costs saw some of the city’s most famous restaurants closing, from Michelin-starred fine dining to cozy mom-and-pop spots.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
Trump's latest tariffs of 10 percent to 12.5 percent apply to goods from 60 economies starting Friday.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
“I reckon it was the slaves and tariffs and things. I never thought about it much.”
From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee
Customs and Border Protection official recently told the trade court that companies will have to do their own accounting and upload a spreadsheet listing each wrongly tariffed good and the amount owed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026
It’s also possible that retailers, figuring that consumers would expect to pay more for tariffed washing machines and would assume the same effect held for dryers, charged more for the latter to fatten their profits.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2026
On Aug. 11, Trump wrote on Truth Social that gold wouldn’t be tariffed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026
Importers have been agile in switching their supply chains away from the most highly tariffed countries.
From BBC ● Feb. 20, 2026
Ships, colonies, commerce, mean to a European nation of to-day just what our vast, half-improved, heavily tariffed territory means to us.
From Lessons of the war with Spain and other articles by Mahan, A. T. (Alfred Thayer)
This is why the surreal stories about the US tariffing rarely visited islands only inhabited by penguins matter.
From BBC ● Apr. 5, 2025
“You can’t be tariffing people at the same exact time that you’re negotiating a detailed arrangement with them,” Mr. Ross said, while describing them as a cocked pistol.
From New York Times ● May 21, 2018
He had something to do with the high cost of tariffing.
From Who Was Who: 5000 BC - 1914 Biographical Dictionary of the Famous and Those Who Wanted to Be by Gordon, Irwin Leslie
The exportation of the national specie was still forbidden, and more than once the State found itself obliged to return to the question of the tariffing of its coinage.
From The History of Currency, 1252 to 1896 by Shaw, William Arthur
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
