Changes
A '''tariff''' is a [[tax]] or custom duty on an imported [[good]] ultimately paid by the end [[consumer]]. It can take one of two forms: (1) a tax per unit, known as a specific tariff, or (2) a tax based on the value of the good, known as an ''[[Ad valorem tax|ad valorem]]'' tariff.
The tariff is paid ultimately by the end [[domestic]] consumer, and not the country of origin. A foreign country suffers in lower volume of [[export]]s, as they pay no money to the importing country. The tariff is paid to the Treasury by the [[domestic]] importers, who pass the cost on to [[domestic]] wholesalers and retailers.
Prior to the [[income tax]], tariffs were the principal way for most of [[American history]] to support the [[federal]] government. In 1896, President [[William McKinley]] campaigned and won by pledging to increase tariffs to revive the [[American]] economy, which he did in 1897. Prior the [[Civil War]], the North favored tariffs to promote their manufacturing, while [[the South]] opposed tariffs in order to export [[cotton]] without retaliatory tariffs.
