Customs and Tariff Protection in Russia in the XVII - Early XVIII Century

The article reveals an important issues of the economic history of Russia in the 17th - early 18th centuries. The authors analyze the government’s trade policy to limit the economic activity of foreign merchants in the Russian market. They also focus on the causes, circumstances and peculiarities of the overgrowth of trade protectionism into the policy of industrial protectionism, clarify the importance of customs regulation as the main tool for suppressing the activity of foreigners in the Russian domestic market. Believing that such a policy was in the interests of the treasury, the leaders of the Russian merchant class and the Russian Orthodox Church, the authors emphasize its differences from Western European mercantilism, which attached special importance to the development of export industries of manufacturing industry and the export of finished products to other countries. In their view, the customs reform of the mid-17th century did not actually pursue any patronizing goals for the development of domestic production. Defending the thesis about the establishment of large-scale industry in Russia in the first quarter of the 18th century, they assign the main role to the customs and tariff policy in updating the country’s production apparatus. The authors assert that in its content the elements of industrial protectionism, which, in the final analysis, determined the content of the tariff of 1724, became more and more confident.

trade, goods, mercantilism, protectionism, taler, merchant, customs tariff, customs duties, treasury

1. Bazilevich K. V. Collective petitions of trade people and fight for the Russian market in the first half of the 17th century [Kollektivnye chelobit’ya torgovykh lyudei i bor’ba za russkii rynok v pervoi polovine XVII v.] // News of Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Department of Social Sciences [Izvestiya AN SSSR. Otd. obshchestv. nauk]. 1932. N 2. P. 91–123. (rus)

2. Bak I.S. Economic views of V. N. Tatishchev [Ekonomicheskie vozzreniya V. N. Tatishcheva] // Historical notes [Istoricheskie zapiski]. M., 1955. V. 54. P. 362–381. (rus)

3. Vitchevsky V. Trade, customs and industrial policy of Russia since the time of Peter the Great up to now [Torgovaya, tamozhennaya i promyshlennaya politika Rossii so vremen Petra Velikogo do nashikh dnei] / translation from German of A. V. Braude; under the editorship of Yu. D. Filipov. SPb. : D. A. Kazitsyn and Yu. D. Filipov’s edition, 1909. 363 p. (rus)

4. Zakharov V. N. Foreign merchants in Arkhangelsk at Peter I [Inostrannye kuptsy v Arkhangel’ske pri Petre I] // Arkhangelsk in the 18th century [Arkhangel’sk v XVIII veke] / Collection and ex. edition Yu. N. Bespyatykh. SPb. : “Russian-Baltic Information Centre BLITZ” publishing house [Izd-vo «Russko-Baltiiskii informatsionnyi tsentr BLITs»], 1997. P. 181–209. (rus)

5. Isaev A. P., Shumilov M. M. Formation of policy of trade protectionism in Russia (XVII — the beginning of the XVIII century) [Formirovanie politiki torgovogo protektsionizma v Rossii (XVII — nachalo XVIII vv.)] // Administrative consulting [Upravlencheskoe konsul’tirovanie]. 2012. N 2. P. 19–31. (rus)

6. Kashtanov S. M. Trade and customs immunity of spiritual corporations in Russia XVI century (according to appointed and decree diplomas) [Torgovlya i tamozhennyi immunitet dukhovnykh korporatsii v Rossii XVI v. (po zhalovannym i ukaznym gramotam)] // Trade, merchants and customs affairs in Russia in the XVI–XVII centuries [Torgovlya, kupechestvo i tamozhennoe delo v Rossii v XVI–XVII vv.]: Collection of materials of the international scientific conference (St. Petersburg, on September 17–20, 2001) / Ex. edition A. P. Pavlov. SPb. : Publishing house of Saint-Petersburg State University [Izd-vo S.-Peterb. un-ta], 2001. P. 7–8. (rus)

7. Kozintseva R. I. Participation of treasury in foreign trade of Russia in the first quarter of the XVIII century [Uchastie kazny vo vneshnei torgovle Rossii v pervoi chetverti XVIII v.] // Historical notes [Istoricheskie zapiski]. 91. M., 1973. P. 267–337. (rus)

8. Kulisher I. M. History of the Russian trade till the XIX century inclusive [Istoriya russkoi torgovli do devyatnadtsatogo veka vklyuchitel’no]. SPb. : Ateney, 1923. 328 p. (rus)

9. Mankov A.G. Legislation and law of Russia of the second half of the XVII century [Zakonodatel’stvo i pravo Rossii vtoroi poloviny XVII v.]. SPb. : Science [Nauka], 1998. 214 p. (rus)

10. Markov L. N. Sketches on history of customs service [Ocherki po istorii tamozhennoi sluzhby]. Irkutsk : Irkutsk University publishing house [Izd-vo Irkut. un-ta], 1987. 157 p. (rus)

11. Nikitinsky A. I. History of economic life of Veliky Novgorod [Istoriya ekonomicheskogo byta Velikogo Novgoroda]. M. : University printing house [Universitetskaya tipografiya], 1893. 306 p. (rus)

12. Nikolsky S. About the external customs duties [O vneshnikh tamozhennykh poshlinakh]. M. : Publishing house “University printing house (M. Katkov and Co)” [Izd-vo «Univ. tip. (M. Katkov i K°)»], 1865. 124 p. (rus)

13. Pavlenko N. I. Commerce and industry policy of the Government of the Russian Federation in the first quarter of the XVIII century [Torgovo-promyshlennaya politika pravitel’stva Rossii v pervoi chetverti XVIII v.] // History of the USSR [Istoriya SSSR]. 1978. N 3. P. 49–69. (rus)

14. Collection of Legislative Acts of the Russian Empire [Polnoe sobranie zakonov Rossiiskoi imperii]. Collectioon I. SPb., 1830. V. 2. N 1129. (rus)

15. Collection of Legislative Acts of the Russian Empire [Polnoe sobranie zakonov Rossiiskoi imperii]. Collection I. SPb., 1830. V. 5. N 3428. (rus)

16. Russian legislation of the X–XX centuries (Texts and comment) [Rossiiskoe zakonodatel’stvo X–XX vekov (teksty i kommentarii)]: In 9 v. / Under a general edition of O. I. Chistyakov. V. 1. Legislation of Ancient Russia; ex. edition V. L. Yanin. M. : Juridical Literature [Yurid. lit.], 1984. 430 p. (rus)

17. Russian legislation of the X–XX centuries (Texts and comment) [Rossiiskoe zakonodatel’stvo X–XX vekov (teksty i kommentarii)]: In 9 v. / Under a general edition of O. I. Chistyakov. V. 4. Legislation of the period of formation of absolutism; ex. edition A. G. Mankov. M. : Juridical Literature [Yurid. lit.], 1986. 512 p. (rus)

18. Tougan-Baranovsky M. I. Favourites. The Russian factory in the past and the present. Historical development of the Russian factory in the XIX century [Izbrannoe. Russkaya fabrika v proshlom i nastoyashchem. Istoricheskoe razvitie russkoi fabriki v XIX veke]. M. : Science [Nauka], 1997. 735 p. (rus)

19. Tsedilin L. I. Protectionism in the Russian economic policy: institutional historical experience [Protektsionizm v rossiiskoi ekonomicheskoi politike: institutsional’nyi istoricheskii opyt] / L. I. Tsedilin. M. : Institute of Economics of RAS [Institut ekonomiki RAN], 2014. 208 p. (rus)

20. Chistyakova E.V. The new trade charter of 1667 [Novotorgovyi ustav 1667 goda] // Archeographic year-book for 1957 [Arkheograficheskii ezhegodnik za 1957 g.]. M., 1958. P. 102–126. (rus)

21. Shumilov M. M. Trade and customs affairs in Russia: formation, main stages of development (IX–XVII centuries) [Torgovlya i tamozhennoe delo v Rossii: stanovlenie, osnovnye etapy razvitiya (IX–XVII vv.)]. SPb. : Dmitry Bulanin, 2006. 472 p. (rus)

22. Shumilov M. M. The Capture of the Domestic Market by Russian Merchants in XVI–XVII Centuries [Zavoevanie russkimi kuptsami vnutrennego rynka strany v XVI–XVII vv.] // Administrative consulting [Upravlencheskoe konsul’tirovanie]. 2016. N 4. P. 217–229. (rus)