import duty

1 4.1

A tax the government charges on goods brought into a country

noun
/ˈɪmpɔrt ˈdjuːti/

Specialized

: derecho de importación

There is a 30 percent import duty, on all electronic equipment.
import duty increased

A horrific amount and therefore even though some of these products are very good, I will never repurchase because of the import duties which was just horrific.

Examples

The government decided to increase the import duty on luxury goods to boost local production.
The EC may impose import duties on Norwegian salmon.

Academic text (1990)
And particularly in the developing world, many states continue to rely on the collection of import duties as an important source of government revenue.

Academic text (2000)
Every country could have a price variation due to local import duties and taxes.

Blog text (7)
There were also import duties, so we manufactured things here in the USA.

Blog text (16)
The trade-weighted average of actually applied import duties is now under five percent.

Academic text (2008)
The government drastically cut import duties, with the highest duty rate falling from 400 percent in June 1991 to 65 percent in February 1994.

Academic text (1994)
Import duties increased the cost of imported products, and export subsidies made EC products competitive on the world market.

Academic text (2000)
The TPA eliminated import duties on more than 80 percent of all goods, including spirits like pisco, entering the United States from Peru.

Academic text (2011)
Under pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Costa Rica gradually lowered its import duties, and in 1990, devalued the colon.

Academic text (1997)

Synonyms

tariff

vsimport duty

270 5.6

A tax on goods brought into or sent out of a country

applies only to taxes on goods brought into the country, not exports

custom

vsimport duty

Specialized

131 7.8

Money a government charges on goods brought into a country

refers only to taxes on goods brought into a country rather than tariff collections

duty

vsimport duty

71 3.0

A tax you pay on goods brought into or sent out of a country

focuses specifically on taxes applied when goods are brought into the country

customs duty

vsimport duty

1 3.5

A tax the government charges on goods brought into or sent out of a country

is limited to taxes on goods brought into the country only

impost

vsimport duty

Archaic

1 9.6

A tax on goods brought into a country

applies only to taxes on goods brought into the country rather than both directions

customs

vsimport duty

1 2.8

A tax the government charges on goods brought into or taken out of a country

covers only taxes on goods brought into the country rather than all collected fees

countervailing duty

vsimport duty

Formal

1 8.6

A tax on imported goods to reduce unfair government help to foreign companies

is a regular import tax applying to all imports not just offsetting subsidies

revenue tariff

vsimport duty

Specialized

7.1

A tax on goods brought into a country mainly to raise government money

serves generally as a tax on imported goods not specifically aimed at raising income

anti-dumping duty

vsimport duty

Specialized

6.8

A tax on cheap imported goods to protect local businesses

is a general import tax not aimed specifically at countering unfair pricing

Surface Forms

import duty singular

import duties plural

Morphology

import + duty

The meaning is directly derivable from the constituents: 'import' (goods brought from abroad) + 'duty' (a government levy), so together they straightforwardly denote a tax on imported goods. This is a regular noun–noun compound pattern common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily understand the phrase.

Etymology

Import duty comes from the simple picture of goods being brought into a country and a duty, a required payment, collected as the goods pass the border. So, import duty means the tax you must pay on things brought into a country.