ABSTRACT
The world entered the 1990s with a wave of protectionist sentiment in industrialized countries. These sentiments stemmed primarily from the loss of domestic markets for labor-intensive products based on simple technology, to newly industrializing countries and the consequent rash of domestic plant closures, rising unemployment and bankruptcies. In a global economy, the economic strength of nations is directly proportional to export-driven trade. Most nations that impose import controls and high tariffs also classify imports into various and high tariffs also classify imports into various classes ranging from essential to prohibited. A study has suggested that more than 20% of all categories of manufactured more than 20% of all categories of manufactured imports into the United States were subject to these imports into the United States were subject to these restrictions.
