Which trade bloc launched the world’s first common external tariff in 1968?

The European Economic Community launched its common external tariff in 1968.

The EEC’s customs union was completed on 1 July 1968, 18 months ahead of the timetable set out in the Treaty of Rome. The member states removed customs duties on trade among themselves and applied a common external tariff to goods imported from outside the Community.

This arrangement differed from a free-trade area. In a free-trade area, members remove internal tariffs but generally keep separate tariffs for non-members. A customs union combines internal free trade in goods with a shared external tariff, reducing the need for rules of origin on trade among members.

The EEC’s customs union became a foundation of European economic integration and later formed part of the European Union’s single-market development. The common external tariff did not mean that all economic policies became identical; member states retained many national powers. It specifically coordinated customs treatment for goods entering the bloc from third countries.