The greatest Commandment is to “Love the Lord your God with
all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew
22:37). The next is to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew
22:39). If you truly love God you want to please Him and will follow
His Commandments. The Bible is our instruction manual to life and we
should take each passage to heart. Another important passage we must
consider is Romans 13:1-7 which instructs us to obey our governing au-
thorities. All authority is given by God and whoever goes against the
authorities God has appointed goes against God Himself. People who
do good will not fear those in authority, only those who do bad will. If
you do good those in authority are pleased which in turn pleases God.
He has placed those in authority of us for our own good/benefit. We
are to subject ourselves to those in authority to avoid the wrath of God
as well as for our own conscience. Verses 6-8 say:
For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers
of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to
them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue
is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor
is owed.
These verses specifically relate to tariffs, quotas, and embargoes.
Tariffs are taxes on certain types of imports. They are created in an ef-
fort to increase revenues and help domestic businesses gain a competi-
tive advantage. Quotas place limits on how many imports are allowed to
enter a nation. Tariffs increase the economic health of a country while
quotas may have a negative effect. Customs officials have the power to
choose whether or not certain goods can be imported due to quotas. Un-
ethical behavior or corruption may occur via customs officials and/or as
a result of tariffs and quotas. Embargoes are sanctions that are enforced
against “foreign countries, groups, organizations, and individuals”
(Satterlee, 2014, p. 84). They can be used for punishment, influencing
behavior, signaling disapproval, as well as many other reasons. In my
mind I think tariffs are taxes that we are to pay per God’s instruction,
quotas are set by those in authority which God grants, and embargoes
help keep accountability. If nations truly lived by God’s Command-
ments taxes/tariffs would be reasonable, quotas set by customs officials
would be handled responsibly and honestly, and embargoes would be
en- forced ethically demonstrating our love for our neighbors as well.
