List five arguments often given to support trade restrictions. How do economists respond to these arguments/ discuss examples in an Australian context?
Introduction
Most economies do not prefer trade restrictions since they prefer free trade. Many economists also support free trade. Nonetheless, there are specific arguments favoring trade protections through using regulations that are relevant in protecting the domestic economy; the five most common argument supporting trade restrictions include:
Domestic jobs protection
National security
Infant industries protection
Protection of unfair competition
Possibility of using trade restrictions as platforms for bargain
Above are the common arguments supporting trade restrictions examined concerning how economists respond to each of them in the section below.
Domestic jobs protection
Economists argue that free trade destroys domestic jobs. In this view, they say that free trade permanently destroys industries since it makes commodities fall up to the point that makes local producers unable to compete internationally with other suppliers abroad (Limao & Handley, 2017a). They always reason that virtually certain commodities can be quickly produced cheaply in certain economies than others in the world. Consequently, for a domestic country that has a particular product with more input sands to lose to a country that has it cheaply, and this makes local industries close down, and workforce in such industries face layoffs.
However, economists advance that it may be necessary if commodities are cheaply produced abroad that economies still stand to benefit from such trade (Qi & Zhang, 2018). This is because economies benefit from a comparative advantage in trade and not on the absolute advantage.
For instance, in the case of Australia, free trade with the united states, china, and other world countries denies its people the opportunity to produce since before free trade locally, they were making computers (Rotunno, 2016). With importation from China that is produced cheaply reduces domestic production of Australia’s computers, and people initially employed in the computer firms get laid off.
National security
Economists argue that national security is highly threatened by free trade given the fact that trade makes economies depend on other economies in supplying them with critical commodities and resources. Here, when war arises between these countries, dependence may become a significant liability. When governments cannot be independent and produce their essential commodities, then their security is threatened (Limao & Handley, 2017a). Economists further argue that critical industries need protection from foreign trade and more so where there are concerns about some legitimate concerns regarding the nation’s security. Moreover, economists posit that producers are incentivized to overstate their national security duties in attaining protection stemming from foreign competition.
In the case of Australia imports lighting mainly from China, and if there is any dispute between China and Australia, Australia’s security can be so much at stake since lighting is a crucial security commodity that can threaten Australia (Hoekman & Nelson, 2018).
Infant industries protection
Economists posit that trade restrictions are necessary to protect infant industries. They contend that domestic start-up industries should be protected to help them develop better and become more competitive (Qi & Zhang, 2018). They justify this need by asserting that the infant industries need the freedom to get t the level of their developed competitors that are well established to face foreign competition (Hoekman & Nelson, 2018). Additionally, economists go-ahead to advance that even domestic old industries need the same protection. Economists’ however, argue that the safety of the infant industries needs profitability vetting. When established that the cost for protecting the infant industries outweighs the additional costs incurred by consumers, an economy needs to adopt it (Niu et al., 2018). Moreover, economists say that sometimes it may not be politically easy to undo the restrictions imposed on industry one implemented even if they are temporarily set.
In Australia’s case, an example of local infant industry protection was the cotton industry. Given that Australia’s cotton is an agricultural industry that is relatively new that still needs protection from the established nations such as China and that Australia needs to protect it and avoid importing from china (Niu et al., 2018).
Unfair competition protection
Economists have advanced another argument favoring trade restriction by contending economies operating under free trade face unfair trade competition. Critics further posit that different countries’ producers operate under entirely different regulations and rules, resulting in a playing field that is uneven (Cimino-Isaacs, 2017). Nonetheless, they argue that despite a country suffering from unfair competition entirely rely on several factors. Given that producers under affected sectors virtually suffer, this ultimately benefits consumers by getting commodities cheaply (Niu et al., 2018). Consequently, an economy may be better off under unfair competition more than it cold under protection.
In Australia’s case, the government recently imposed the anti-dumping law through the anti-dumping commission on the significant Italian tinned tomatoes. It swiftly set the duties for the same at 8.4 percent (Qi & Zhang, 2018). This was making the Australian tomatoes highly-priced than foreign tinned tomatoes.
Use restriction as bargain platforms.
Economists argue that trade restrictions can be used as an asset to negotiate. This implies that trade restrictions are usable in negotiation s bargain chips to remove existing restrictions and deter other economies from creating trade restrictions (Cimino-Isaacs, 2017). However, economists argue that sometimes this strategy may not works are given that some countries may not react to the threat imposed. Consequently, the restriction may hurt the economy; conversely, when the strategy backs down, the economy loses credibility (Rotunno, 2016).
In Australia, the government passed a law requiring Google and Facebook to provide payment for their local outlets and publishers to join their contents in search results. This news media regulation is for digital media and news media that are put as a mandatory code for a bargain for Australia’s economy (Hoekman & Nelson, 2018). The code ensures the businesses for Australian news media are well paid for the content they provide.
Conclusion
Despite many economists’ supports for free trade, there exist arguments suggesting trade restrictions appropriate in protecting the domestic economy by the following discussion. Free trade destroys jobs, threatens a nation’s security, regulations protect infant industries, deter unfair competition, and that restrictions are instrumental in trade negotiations.
References
Cimino-Isaacs, C. (2017). 100 Plus Days of Trade Policy: A Review of Key Administration Actions, Peterson Institute for International Economics, https://piie.com/blogs/tradeinvestment-policy-watch/100-plus-days-trade-policy-review-key-administration-actions.
Hoekman, B. M., & Nelson, D. R. (2018). Reflecting on populism and the economics of globalization. Journal of International Business Policy, 1(1–2): 34–43.
Limao, N., & Handley, K. (2017a). Policy uncertainty, trade, and welfare: Theory and evidence for China and the United States. American Economic Review, 107(9): 2731–2783.
Niu, Z., Liu, C., Gunessee, S., & Milner, C. (2018). Non-tariff and overall protection: Evidence across countries and over time. Review of World Economics, 154(4): 675–703.
Qi, C., & Zhang, J.X. (2018). The economic impacts of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement-A general equilibrium analysis. China Econ Rev 47:1–11.
Rotunno, L. (2016). Political stability and trade agreements: evidence for ‘endgame FTAs.’ Eur J Polit Econ 45:133–148.
Get Professional Assignment Help Cheaply
Are you busy and do not have time to handle your assignment? Are you scared that your paper will not make the grade? Do you have responsibilities that may hinder you from turning in your assignment on time? Are you tired and can barely handle your assignment? Are your grades inconsistent?
Whichever your reason may is, it is valid! You can get professional academic help from our service at affordable rates. We have a team of professional academic writers who can handle all your assignments.
Our essay writers are graduates with diplomas, bachelor’s, masters, Ph.D., and doctorate degrees in various subjects. The minimum requirement to be an essay writer with our essay writing service is to have a college diploma. When assigning your order, we match the paper subject with the area of specialization of the writer.
Why Choose Our Academic Writing Service?
Plagiarism free papers
Timely delivery
Any deadline
Skilled, Experienced Native English Writers
Subject-relevant academic writer
Adherence to paper instructions
Ability to tackle bulk assignments
Reasonable prices
24/7 Customer Support
Get superb grades consistently
How It Works
1. Place an order
You fill all the paper instructions in the order form. Make sure you include all the helpful materials so that our academic writers can deliver the perfect paper. It will also help to eliminate unnecessary revisions.
2. Pay for the order
Proceed to pay for the paper so that it can be assigned to one of our expert academic writers. The paper subject is matched with the writer’s area of specialization.
3. Track the progress
You communicate with the writer and know about the progress of the paper. The client can ask the writer for drafts of the paper. The client can upload extra material and include additional instructions from the lecturer. Receive a paper.
4. Download the paper
The paper is sent to your email and uploaded to your personal account. You also get a plagiarism report attached to your paper.
PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH ESSAY SCORES TODAY AND GET AN AMAZING DISCOUNT
Delivering a high-quality product at a reasonable price is not enough anymore.
That’s why we have developed 5 beneficial guarantees that will make your experience with our service enjoyable, easy, and safe.
You have to be 100% sure of the quality of your product to give a money-back guarantee. This describes us perfectly. Make sure that this guarantee is totally transparent.
Read moreEach paper is composed from scratch, according to your instructions. It is then checked by our plagiarism-detection software. There is no gap where plagiarism could squeeze in.
Read moreThanks to our free revisions, there is no way for you to be unsatisfied. We will work on your paper until you are completely happy with the result.
Read moreYour email is safe, as we store it according to international data protection rules. Your bank details are secure, as we use only reliable payment systems.
Read moreBy sending us your money, you buy the service we provide. Check out our terms and conditions if you prefer business talks to be laid out in official language.
Read more