ABSTRACT
Most barriers to international trade can be justified - at least by those who impose them-as measures of self-defence. Thus a tariff on cars protects the jobs not only of workers on the assembly line, but also of those employed in industries producing motor-car accessories such as paint, safety-glass, or electrical fittings. Similarly, a quota on the import of Commonwealth sugar offers fanners at home an assured market for sugar-beet which they would not otherwise plant. Even non-tariff barriers - such as prohibitive quarantine requirements on livestock, or intricate packaging and labelling requirements, or even discriminatory laws, such as the 'Buy American' acts, can be defended as alleged safeguards for the consumer, or even for the security of the nation.
