In the customs laws, this term denotes an allowance made by the government upon the duties due on imported merchandise when the importer, instead of selling it here, re-exports it; or the refunding of such duties if already paid. This allowance amounts, in some cases, to the whole of the original duties; in others, to a part only.
A drawback is a device resorted to for enabling a commodity affected by taxes to be exported and sold in the foreign market on the same terms as if it had not been taxed at all. It differs in this from a bounty, that the latter enables a commodity to be sold for less than its natural cost whereas a drawback enables it to be sold exactly at its natural cost. Downs v. TJ. S., 113 Fed. 144, 51 O. C. A. 100.