The Wealth of Nations

The Wealth of Nations

by

Adam Smith

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The Wealth of Nations makes teaching easy.
Drawbacks are rebates for taxes that have already been paid. To promote the carrying trade, governments commonly offer drawbacks on import taxes for goods that are re-exported.
Get the entire The Wealth of Nations LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Wealth of Nations PDF

Drawbacks Term Timeline in The Wealth of Nations

The timeline below shows where the term Drawbacks appears in The Wealth of Nations. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 4, Chapter 1
Institutions and Good Governance Theme Icon
Mercantilism and Free Trade Theme Icon
...with which the home country has an unfavorable balance of trade. The pro-export policies are drawbacks (tax rebates) for exporters, bounties (incentives) for key industries, trade treaties with other countries, and... (full context)
Book 4, Chapter 4
Institutions and Good Governance Theme Icon
Mercantilism and Free Trade Theme Icon
Manufacturers and traders often petition the government to support exports. Drawbacks, or tax refunds, are desirable for domestic goods because they keep the natural division of... (full context)
Institutions and Good Governance Theme Icon
Mercantilism and Free Trade Theme Icon
While these drawback policies weren’t unreasonable, it makes little sense to encourage the carrying trade for its own... (full context)
Book 4, Chapter 5
Institutions and Good Governance Theme Icon
Mercantilism and Free Trade Theme Icon
...is not unreasonable. Export incentives for goods that already face export taxes should be considered drawbacks, even though they are often wrongly called bounties. And prizes offered to extraordinary manufacturers and... (full context)
Book 4, Chapter 7
Labor, Markets, and Growth Theme Icon
Institutions and Good Governance Theme Icon
Mercantilism and Free Trade Theme Icon
Britain uses bounties and drawbacks to encourage imports from its American colonies, while permitting drawbacks for goods originating from other... (full context)
Book 5, Chapter 2
Institutions and Good Governance Theme Icon
Mercantilism and Free Trade Theme Icon
Then, Britain adopted the mercantile system. It replaced export duties with bounties and drawbacks, while creating different import duties for different commodities. There are no duties for materials of... (full context)
Institutions and Good Governance Theme Icon
Mercantilism and Free Trade Theme Icon
...administering import taxes this way, maximizing revenues instead of protecting monopolies, and abandoning bounties and drawbacks, Britain could create a far simpler customs system without losing any revenue. Indeed, free trade... (full context)