I too have pondered on the high cost of wool tartan.

As I am no kiltmaker, and not an importer, I can only conjecture as to the cost... so let's give it a try..

I would think that the market for tartan is much less than that for typical wool fabric. Although, high quality suiting wool fabric is not cheap either... That being said, perhaps the location of manufacture affects the cost as well (Scotland v. China or India). Shipping, duties, tariffs and taxes will all take a toll on cost.

I tried to look up the tariffs, etc., but it reads like a linux manual......

Perhaps I am way off, but this may be a good start to the discussion....