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# Customs Duties

## Definition

Taxes imposed on goods imported from foreign countries, which historically
were intended to tax the profits of merchants but now serve primarily as a
source of revenue and sometimes as instruments of monopoly or trade regulation.

## Source Chapter

Book V, Chapter 2

## Context

Smith traces the history of customs duties from their origins as taxes on
merchant profits to their current role in revenue generation, and critiques
their use as instruments of monopoly rather than revenue.

## Economic Domain

General Theory

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