[Paladin2]

"The Tariff of 1789 placed France and Great Britain on an equal footing with regard to shipping, manufactures, and raw products delivered to American ports. All foreign-owned or foreign-built ships paid 50¢ per ton duty; American-owned vessels were charged 6¢ per ton.[20]"

Sounds like a simple rate structure.

[familyop]

That’s true. Our foreign trading partners now use more complicated strategies to cause trade imbalances.