ABSTRACT
In his earliest essays on economic policy, many of which were written on behalf of the German Union of Merchants, List faced a dilemma. On the one hand he favoured the establishment of a customs union which would include all the states in the German Confederation. When pleading for the removal of all the tariffs restricting trade between the 39 German states he used familiar free trade arguments. But when he proposed that once a German customs union had been established it should levy high import duties on foreign imports to safeguard the livelihood of German industrialists and craftsmen, he used the arguments of the protectionists. In later writings List endeavoured to show that there was no inconsistency in advocating free trade within Germany while at the same time demanding protection for German manufacturers against foreign competition.
