Editing Customs union (section)

== Historical background ==
The German Customs Union, the [[Zollverein]], which was established in 1834, and gradually developed and expanded, was a customs union organization that appeared earlier and played a role in promoting German economic development and political unification at that time. Before the establishment of the unified [[German Empire]] in the 1870s, there were checkpoints between and within the German states, which hindered the development of industry and commerce. In 1818, Prussia took the lead in abolishing the customs duties in the mainland; it was followed by the establishment of the North German Customs Union in 1826. Two years later, two customs unions were established in the states of South Germany.<ref name="Flaherty 2018 981–982">{{Cite journal|last=Flaherty|first=Jane|s2cid=158847890|date=2018|title=Tariff Wars and the Politics of Jacksonian America by William K. Bolt|journal=Journal of Southern History|volume=84|issue=4|pages=981–982|doi=10.1353/soh.2018.0262|issn=2325-6893}}</ref> It was brought into action by the initiative of Prussia and joined by most of the German states. Pre-modern conditions ( 30+ currencies, trade barriers etc.) were viewed as an obstacle to economic exchange and growth by the new commercial classes, who argued for the creation of a unified economic territory allowing the unhindered movement of goods, people and capital.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

In 1834, 18 states joined to form the German Customs Union with Prussia as the leader.{{cn|date=April 2025}} Thereafter, this alliance was further expanded to all German-speaking regions{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} and became the All-German Customs Union. The contents of the alliance convention included: abolishing internal tariffs, unifying external tariffs, raising import tax rates, and allocating tariff income to all states in the alliance in proportion. In addition, there is a customs union between France and Monaco, which was established in 1865.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

A customs union was established by Switzerland and Liechtenstein in 1924, by Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg in 1948, by the countries of the [[European Economic Community]] in 1958, and by the [[Economic Community of Central African States]] in 1964.{{cn|date=April 2025}} At that time, the [[European Free Trade Association]] was separate from the [[European Economic Community Customs Union]].{{cn|date=April 2025}} Free trade within the former was limited to industrial products, and no uniform tariffs were imposed on countries outside the Union.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=2002|title=Discussion|journal=Brookings Trade Forum|volume=2002|issue=1|pages=227–230|doi=10.1353/btf.2003.0003|issn=1534-0635}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Chang|first=Ha-Joon|chapter=Industrial Policy: Can Africa do It?|date=2013|title=The Industrial Policy Revolution II|pages=114–132|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|doi=10.1057/9781137335234_5|isbn=978-1-137-37450-9}}</ref>