Import Fee Structure

Importing, meaning acquiring goods and services from members on other networks, entails an import fee. This import fee changes as a function of the importing network’s trade imbalance: the higher a network’s net import imbalance is (denoted below as its negative BoT), the more costly the import fee levied on its members. Once a network reaches its import limit, its members are banned from imports, but can still export to counterparty networks in order to rebalance their network’s Balance of Trade (BoT) account.

In the figure above, the Y axis of the graph resolves for the fee rate an importing member is required to pay, while the X axis measures their network’s proximity to its import limit (read below how limits are set). As shown above, import fees increase first slowly, and then rapidly as the network approaches its import limit. As a network’s negative BoT reaches its import limit, import fees approach 100%, consequently rendering the trade infeasible.