ABSTRACT
In the general case, and in the long run, import duties are paid by the consumers of the importing country. They are an element in price, just as much as cost of material, or cost of freight, or cost of labour. This is universally recognised in the practice of all business men and in the practice of all Protectionist Governments. It ought not to be necessary to support such a common-sense proposition as that here laid down by the weight of authority, but it may be useful to quote the opinion of our most distinguished economist, Professor Alfred Marshall, as stated in his memorandum, " Fiscal Policy of International Trade," published as a House of Commons paper in 1908. Professor Marshall says:
" It is my opinion that, in nearly all important cases, import duties are borne almost exclusively by the consumer. But there is no absolute rule in the matter. Cases can be conceived on a large scale, and have actually existed on a small scale, in which a perceptible part of the burden of an import duty is borne by foreigners. And, of course, a part of the pressure of every new tax of whatever kind is apt to rest temporarily on producers, merchants, shippers, and others, until they are able to shift it to its permanent resting-place on the shoulders of consumers."
