| Chinese tariffs have a long history and are an integral part of China’s historical and cultural heritage.Tariffs,like other political and economic spheres,have their own special laws of development.A correct tariff policy is beneficial to the country and is a blessing for the people to live and work in peace and happiness,while a policy that is contrary to the law of tariff operation is the source of the country’s downfall.After the Opium War,China’s tariff sovereignty was gradually lost under the invasion of the Great Powers,and customs and tariffs could not play the role of protecting the national economy from foreign invasion,but gradually became the tools of the Great Powers to invade China.Among them,the opium trade was inextricably linked to the changes of Chinese tariffs in the late Qing Dynasty.Based on the special social background of the late Qing Dynasty,the author studies the tariff system and the opium trade in this period,with a view to supplementing the study of the economic history of the late Qing Dynasty and providing some reference to the present tariff reform on this basis.The criminal opium trade opened the door to modern China and forced the blind and ignorant Qing government into the world trade system.Whether it was the increasingly rampant opium smuggling before 1858 or the opium trade that reached its peak after the legalization of opium,opium was a special commodity that had a very bad impact on the economic and social development of modern China.Based on historical sources,the author introduces the opium trade in different periods and further analyzes the impact of the opium trade on the tariff of the late Qing Dynasty in the light of the opium policies of countries with frequent opium trade with China and the change in the Qing government’s attitude toward the opium trade,analyzing the far-reaching impact of the opium trade on the tariff of the late Qing Dynasty in three aspects: tariff sovereignty,tariff system,and tariff revenue.On the other hand,after the legalization of the opium trade,the tariff of the late Qing Dynasty in turn had a great impact on the opium trade,and the opium tax became a lifeline for the late Qing Dynasty’s revenue,helping the Qing government to carry out the New Deal reform in the late Qing Dynasty.The article focuses on the opium tax of the late Qing Dynasty,which was a product of the combination of tariff and opium trade in the late Qing Dynasty,and included both imported and domestic opium taxes.The author introduces the game theory in economics to analyze the competition between the central government and local governments for opium tax benefits in the late Qing Dynasty,and analyzes the impact of the actions taken by both sides on the opium trade in the period by combining historical facts.It still accounted for most of the late Qing customs revenue.In today’s world of unprecedented changes in the past century,the integration of economic globalization has deepened,and the role of tariffs in fiscal regulation and trade protection has become more prominent.Through studying the tariff and opium trade in the late Qing Dynasty,we should learn from history and draw lessons: maintain the independence of tariff sovereignty and defend national sovereignty;maintain the balance of trade between countries,promote fair competition between the two sides of the trade,and promote mutual benefit;prohibit the spread of drugs and drug trade,and crack down on drug crimes. |
