Trade barriers are government-imposed restrictions on international trade, including tariffs, quotas, subsidies, and non-tariff barriers. They protect domestic industries but raise consumer prices and reduce economic efficiency.
What Are Trade Barriers? Trade barriers are government policies, regulations, or practices that restrict the free flow of goods and services between countries. They are the primary tools of protectionism — the policy of shielding domestic industries from foreign competition. While often justified on grounds of protecting jobs, national security, or infant industries, economists generally regard most trade barriers as economically inefficient: they benefit protected industries at the expense of c