A tariff, one type of barrier, is a tax imposed by a government on products coming into its country, often levied to protect its own nation’s products. With a quota, a government decides that only a certain number of a specific product can be imported. A third type of trade barrier is an embargo. This occurs when one nation decides that it will not trade with a specific country, often because of a political conflict.
Because these trade barriers can be unfair and have detrimental effects, there are global communities working together to keep trade