Why are export tarrifs banned, and only import tarrifs allowed?

An export tariff makes no sense, because you are thus taxing goods that the nation wants to sell to others.

The constitutional ban is on imposing duties on goods sold from one state to another. There is free commerce between states.

An individual state cannot impose a duty on an export.

@zenvelo
export tariffs make sense if you want to push local producers to sell more of their products domestically, instead of selling it in other markets where people are more willing/able to pay higher prices for it, or if it is a strategic resource you want to keep inside your borders for national security reasons.

Tariffs are a poor argument. It’s the consumer (who is here in the US) who pays the tariff through higher prices on the items imported. The exporting country isn’t affected by tariffs because they simply pass the cost on to the consumer.

One of the driving forces behind import tariffs is to even the playing field between two countries. For example, China can use slave labor (or very cheap labor) to produce products. The USA cannot. So obviously China can produce things more cheaply than the USA. So manufacturing jobs move to China where the owners can maximize profits. But that leaves the US with more unemployment or underemployment. So a tariff is imposed on Chinese products coming into the USA. This forces the prices of these products up at the market place. So now the Chinese products and the USA made products can sell for a similar price. Other incentives can be used to entice the Chinese companies to move production to the USA which then increases employment and tax revenue in the USA.

And Export tax has two negatives associated with it. It will increase the cost of sales at the market place outside the US which will lower the number of sales. It will make those manufacturers want to move production to another country where they are not penalized. Both are negative impacts on US jobs, taxes, and production. Another aspect of export taxes is the political aspect. The US government would be trying to over regulate production in the USA. The government would be telling companies where they can and cannot sell their products.