A trade barrier is general term that describes any government policy or regulation that restricts international trade, the barriers can take many forms, including: International trade is the exchange of goods and services across international boundaries. ...

• Import duties
• Import licenses
• Export licenses
• Quotas
• Tariffs
• Subsidies

• Non-tariff barriers to trade

Most trade barriers work on the same principle: the imposition of some sort of cost on trade that raises the price of the traded products. If two or more nations repeatedly use trade barriers against each other, then a trade war results. An import duty is a tariff paid at a border or port of entry to the relevant government to allow a good to pass into that governments territory. ... A quota is a prescribed number or share of something. ... A tariff is a tax on imported goods. ... A subsidy is generally a monetary grant given by government in support of an activity regarded as being in the public interest. ... Non-tariff barriers to trade are restrictions to imports but are not in the usual form of a tariff. ... In economics, business, and accounting, a cost is a price paid, or otherwise associated with, a commercial event or economic transaction. ... A trade war refers to two or more nations raising or creating tariffs or other trade barriers on each other in retaliation for other trade barriers. ...

Economists generally agree that trade barriers are detrimental and decrease overall economic efficiency, this can be explained by the theory of comparative advantage. In theory, free trade involves the removal of all such barriers, except perhaps those considered necessary for health or national security. In practice, however, even those countries promoting free trade heavily subsidize certain industries, such as agriculture and steel. Examples of free trade areas are: North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), European Free Trade Association, European Union (EU), South American Community of Nations. Economic efficiency is a general term for the value assigned to a situation by some measure designed to capture the amount of waste or friction or other undesirable and undesirable economic features present. ... In economics, the theory of comparative advantage explains why it can be beneficial for two countries to trade, even though one of them may be able to produce every kind of item more cheaply than the other. ... Free trade is an economic concept referring to the selling of products between countries without tariffs or other trade barriers. ... The old steel cable of a colliery winding tower Steel is a metal alloy whose major component is iron, with carbon being the primary alloying material. ... NAFTA Initialing Ceremony, October 1992. ... member states The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) was established on May 3, 1960 as an alternative for European states that were not allowed or did not wish to join the European Community (now the European Union). ... The South American Community of Nations (CSN) (Spanish: Comunidad Sudamericana de Naciones, Portuguese: Comunidade Sul-Americana de Nações) will be a continent-wide free trade zone that will unite two existing free-trade organizations—Mercosur and the Andean Community—eliminating tariffs for non-sensitive products by 2014 and sensitive...

See also

• Copenhagen Consensus
• Customs union
• Agricultural policy