Question

Explain why the government is often more responsive to producer interests than to consumer interests when it comes to the imposition of tariffs and quotas.

Answer 1

Answer:

The reason the government is often more responsive to producer interests than to consumer interests when it comes to the imposition of tariffs and quotas is:

it wants to ensure that producers are protected from foreign competition.

Explanation:

Producers face foreign competitive threats.  Consumers do not face such competition.  Therefore, the government will often consider the producers' interests more than the consumers' interests when imposing trade tariffs and quotas.  If local industries are not protected from their foreign competitors, the unemployment rate will increase and the economy will be flooded with cheap and low quality goods from other countries.  In that way, the US will be subsidizing the foreign producers indirectly.