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International Trade vocabulary · Trade Agreements and Policy

Customs union

Meaning in international trade, with examples

nounCommon term

In international trade, customs union means: An agreement in which member countries remove customs duties between themselves and apply the same common tariff to imports from outside.

In Turkish: gümrük birliği

How it is used

The key difference from a free trade agreement is the common external tariff. Turkey and the EU have a customs union that covers industrial goods and processed agricultural products, which is why A.TR certificates are used between them.

Example sentences

  1. Within the customs union, a machine made in Bursa can enter France without customs duty.

  2. Most agricultural products are outside the customs union between Turkey and the EU.

Common collocations

  • customs union with the EU
  • common external tariff
  • member of the customs union
  • customs union rules
  • free trade agreementAn agreement between two or more countries to remove or reduce customs duties and other barriers on most of the goods traded between them.
  • A.TRA movement certificate used in trade between Turkey and the EU to show that industrial goods are in free circulation in the customs union, so no customs duty is charged.
  • tariffA tax charged by a government on imported goods, usually as a percentage of their value; also the official list of these rates.
  • preferential tariffA lower customs duty rate, sometimes zero, given to goods from certain countries under a trade agreement or a development programme.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Trade Agreements and Policy

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