- General Introduction
In the EU, one of the main purposes
of customs duties is to protect EU producers of goods from foreign
competition (i.e. goods from non-EU countries) by levying a tax on
imported goods (so-called safeguard duties); ); such a tax is
therefore not levied on goods produced in the EU.
Custom duties are therefore only
levied once - as part of an import of goods from non-EU countries.
The purpose of generating revenue (so-called financial duties), on
the other hand, is of secondary importance for the member states,
as 75% of the duties levied go to the EU budget and 25% to the
respective levying member state.
Another important aspect of the
European customs tariff is the possibility for the EU to conclude
preferential agreements with third countries in order to bring
about a mutual reduction in customs duties and economic integration
(free trade and customs union agreements). In addition, the EU
grants autonomous tariff suspensions and tariff
