• actionjbone@sh.itjust.works
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    3 days ago

    Yes.

    Contraband includes products that simply skirt export/import controls.

    One of two things may happen:

    1. As demand for smuggled products increase, price goes up because demand outpaces supply.

    2. Smuggling becomes popular and the market gets flooded with contraband. It causes prices to go down.

    #1 is probably more likely unless enforcement isn’t prioritized.

    #2’s likelihood increases when the import controllers are corrupt and susceptible to bribes, because they can look the other way as large quantities of goods are smuggled across a border.

    These are not the only possibilities, but their examples of things that have happened at certain times in history.