In 2009 about 11.1% of our goods were exported, and in 2008 about 13.5% of our goods were exported. The decline in imports and exports in 2009 was a consequence of the global recession. However, restricting trade is not necessarily a bad thing. “Since it is possible that with free trade some businesses will fail and some workers will lose their jobs, it is useful to summarize some of the objectionable aspects and some of the good reasons for restricting trade” (Robert). One questionable reason would be the protection of jobs within businesses which may be cheaper to import. We may not trade with another country because the good may be important to our national security or identity. We may also not trade with another country because it allows child labor, or because it gains comparative advantages through worker safety regulations and environmental laws. need retraining to obtain new ones, the long-term benefits usually outweigh these” (Robert). This happens when other countries find a better or cheaper way to produce the good. As a result, the people who produce the good here could lose their jobs. Protecting our industries in this case is not beneficial for a couple of reasons. For capitalism to work, we must reward people who succeed and punish those who fail. If the government does not trade internationally, our industries will become careless and will not produce the best goods at the lowest price. Furthermore, if other countries saw that we were protecting our industries from competition, they might do the same. Instead of everyone benefiting, we could return to the days before trade and lose consumption opportunities. Countries have developed… half the paper… good rates, known as tariffs. The second method uses a quota. This is “a legal restriction on the amount of a good coming into a county” (Robert). Finally the last method simply makes importing too expensive. This method is most commonly used on agricultural products and becomes apparent when the rules become silly. “Although it is perfectly legitimate for a country to want to inspect a shipment for certain diseases, insects or parasites, countries sometimes use such inspections as an excuse to restrict imports” (Robert). Many examples of these non-tariff barriers exist for logical reasons, and some are dubious. Works Cited Guell, Robert C. “17 International trade” Issues in Economics Today. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2010. Page No. PrintRadcliffe, B.. Np. Network. March 6 2014. .