It's British English. Tariff is used to mean import duties, business prices (e.g. "phone tariff") and also prison sentences (e.g. "whole life tariff").
Though given the political context, it would probably have made sense to use a different word.
Not only do they share an etymology (the word "tariff" in English and "tarif" in German both come from the same Arabic word), they also mean the exact same thing. It's also used in a bunch of other European languages in essentially the same way, with either a similar or identical spelling.
It's only US English where some of the meanings that are still common elsewhere are no longer used. It's actually kind of amusing that Americans would struggle to understand the meaning of an English word, but a French or Italian speaker would understand it. I wonder if there are any other words like this.
Having the same etymology and even having the exact same spelling in two languages does not disqualify a word from being a false friend at all!
Take "gift", for example: "Gift" means "poison" in German, despite both the English and German word deriving from the same Proto-Germanic root, meaning "to give".
> (the word "tariff" in English and "tarif" in German both come from the same Arabic word), they also mean the exact same thing
In this very thread you can find a pretty good counterexample to that proposition, at least in American English.
I said same etymology AND same meaning. They are the same word, not false friends.
US English may have dropped that meaning, but British English still uses it in this way, as do many Europeans when they speak English. It’s a correct translation.
Though given the political context, it would probably have made sense to use a different word.