Tariffs

All that a tariff can achieve is to divert production from those locations in which the output per unit of input is higher to locations in which it is lower. It does not increase production; it curtails it.

Human Action, p. 737; p. 744

The only case that can be made on behalf of protective tariffs is this: the sacrifices they impose could be offset by other, noneconomic advantages—for instance, from a national and military point of view it could be desirable to more or less isolate a country from the world.

A Critique of Interventionism, p. 23

The imposition of a duty on the importation of a commodity burdens the consumers.

Human Action, p. 742; p. 749

Many people look upon tariff protection as if it were a privilege accorded to their nation’s wage earners, procuring them, for the full duration of its existence, a higher standard of living than they would enjoy under free trade.

Human Action, p. 745; p. 752