The trouble with tariffs: customs policies and the shaky balance between colonial and private interests in the Congo (1885-1914)

This article deals with a key constraint on the ability of African colonial states to tax international trade. In the Congo Free State and Belgian Congo, tariff policies were always the result of a difficult balancing act. On the one hand, the colonial state depended on customs receipts to make ends meet. On the other hand, policymakers feared the counterproductive effect of tariff policies: excessive taxation would cause customs receipts to decline because it slowed down commerce and encouraged traders to smuggle or to relocate. Sometimes, this fear held back policymakers from increasing the tariff burden – even when the colony was in dire financial straits. On other occasions, budgetary necessity forced policymakers to implement customs measures which they believed would cripple the colonial economy and jeopardized future fiscal revenue