What is the role of government with imports and exports (generally)?

Question

Can u answer before tomorrow, I have to present in front of my class. Our Topic is the role of government in economics and i am dealing with imports and exports. Thank you.

Answer 1

The role of government in imports and exports has made a dramatic and import change since 9/11/01.

As Clockwork Grape outlines in his answer, the primary function of U.S. Customs was to collect revenue to help fund the government. Over the years, this role expanded to help protect certain industries (such as steel and textiles) from cheap imports that threatened U.S. jobs. This role has not gone away.

It is very important to note, however, that the stated focus of the government is now on security. That is why the U.S. Customs Service is now a part of the recently created Department of Homeland Security. The U.S. government rightly wants to ensure that items entering the United States do not pose a security threat to the country.

Likewise, the U.S. government wants to ensure that products leaving the U.S. don't end up in embargoed countries like Iran or can't be used in the support of terrorism or the spread of weapons of mass destruction. The State Department, Commerce Department, and U.S. Treasury all play a role in these efforts.

For example, an item that appears to have a purely commercial application may be adapted for military purposes. U.S. companies must be diligent in properly classifying their products and knowing the ultimate destination of their goods before they export. When appropriate, they must apply for an export license from State, Commerce or the Treasury before they can ship the goods.

The Department of Commerce publishes a very interesting pamphlet, "Don't Let This Happen to You!", that outlines exporters' responsibilities and the penalties that they can incur for not following these regulations.

Answer 2

Sure:

The constitution keeps the gov't from taxing exports - it says:
"No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State. "

So the gov't doesn't regulate exports with taxes.

Imports on the otehr hand, can be and are taxed with customs duties. Everything that is imported has to go through Customs, which determines if there is a tax to be paid. We are members of numerous treaties - some with individual countries and some with trade organizations. Based on these treaties, the government taxes articles imported into the US. Different goods are taxed at different rates. So folding chairs from China may be taxed at one rate while cameras from the same conutry might be taxed at a different rate (and the same products would be taxed at different rates if they come from a country such a Canada, which is a member of the North American Free Trade Agreement ("NAFTA") with the USA and Mexico)....So the entire customs process if very complex and time consuming and some importers try to cheat, so the gov't has to inspect imports. Much of this is to raise money, but there are other reasons to tax imports. If the US steel industry is having trouble competing with Japan or China, and those countries are shipping in loads of steel, then the gov't might decide to raise the tax on steel to protect the local industries (this happens with agriculture products all the time). So by controlling import taxes, the Government can have a huge impact on the economics of various industries.