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Wheying up the cost of an import tariff

Geoff Riley

31st August 2016

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The Trade Analysis twitter feed is an excellent source of contextual background on trade and investment news in the world economy and I recommend it to students and teachers. They recently posted a ranking of the highest import tariffs on products coming into the EU economy and top of the list was Whey protein.

The current import tariff on whey protein is a staggering 130%. It is a good example of how an import tariff has a direct effect on consumers of beauty / lifestyle products. Presumably at such a high tariff rate, the incentive to try to avoid the tariff is pretty strong? I loved the response of one of the followers of the Trade Analysis twitter feed who suggested that a 130% tariff implies that bodybuilders are not great at political lobbying!

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Geoff Riley

Geoff Riley FRSA has been teaching Economics for nearly forty years. He has over twenty years experience as Head of Economics at leading schools. He writes extensively and is a contributor and presenter on CPD and Revision conferences in the UK and overseas.