Which Type Of Trade Barrier Is Explicitly Used For Political Purposes?

Which Type Of Trade Barrier Is Explicitly Used For Political Purposes?

A. Standards

B. Quotas

C. Tariffs

D. Embargoes

Answer: D. Embargoes

Among all the trade barriers, the embargo is the most direct form that is used for political objectives. Based on the information contained in the document, the embargo is considered the harshest type of trade barriers, which restrain trading potential and exacerbate the destiny of the target state’s economy. Embargoes are large-scale economic measures often applied to suppress political opponents or apply certain political lines and are usually applied between the warring sides. For instance, the United Nations Security Council has restricted trade on goods, through edging bans such as embargo on nations such as Iraq, the former Yugoslav republics, and Haiti primarily for political causes. The United States has also employed the technique of denying certain nations such as Cuba, Russia, China, Libya, Syria, and North Korea supplies as a way of applying political pressure. The document established the fact that an embargo is a pure disincentive that affects trade by denying the targeted country access to the market through political agreements or blockades. Thus, among other trade barriers such as tariffs and subsidies, which can also be used to serve political goals, the most obviously political are embargoes. This is why it is considered a serious measure in international relations, which is linked to the procurements of changes in certain policies or, at least, the change of regime. However, the document also states that using an embargo could bring about various effects affecting the stable development of the world economy as the world has become interconnected.