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World Trade Organization Toolkit

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Tariff Concessions

There are various forms of barriers to international trade. The most obvious, well-known and transparent form of barriers to trade is the tariff which a country imposes on imports of goods.

A tarif is the charge imposed at the border on imports of goods.

Historically, countries used to maintain very high tariffs. Thus, when the GATT was negotiated in 1947, the central issue was the reduction of these tariffs which the GATT Contracting Parties were imposing on imports of goods within their territory.

Under the GATT, each Contracting Party committed itself to limiting the amount of tariffs it would impose on imports of goods from other Contracting Parties. These commitments are called "tariff concessions" or "bindings".

The actual tariff concessions are specific to each country and are contained for each country in its schedule of concessions which is annexed to the GATT. By virtue of Article II of the GATT, all Contracting Parties undertake not to impose customs duties in excess of those set forth in each country's tariff binding schedule.

A first set of tariff concessions was agreed at the time the GATT was negotiated and signed in 1947. Tariffs were further reduced through successive rounds of negotiations. These tariff concessions are obviously one of the greatest achievements of the GATT/WTO. Broadly speaking, the tariffs imposed by developed countries on industrial products were reduced to 3.9% or even less today.

Learn more about the tariff concessions and tariff schedules

Learn more about the progressive reduction of tariffs through successive rounds of negotiations

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