Widening protectionism

Quality control should not be made a non-tariff barrier

Once a government gives in to protectionism, its control of trade and manufacturing inevitably tends to increase. The government views the trade deficit and in particular the trade deficit with China as a major problem, but has chosen to address this problem not through competitiveness-enhancing reform but through protectionist acts. Where high tariff walls are no longer advisable, non-tariff barriers of various sorts are being introduced. The latest such instrument is quality control orders, or QCOs. It has now been reported that 58 such regulations would be issued in the next six months. This follows some QCOs on items such