What can governments raise to protect domestic industries?

Governments can raise trade barriers to protect domestic industries. Trade barriers are regulatory measures such as tariffs, quotas, and import licenses that make it more difficult or expensive for foreign goods and services to enter the domestic market. By imposing these barriers, governments aim to shield local businesses from foreign competition, allowing them to grow and maintain jobs within the country.

Trade barriers can take various forms, including tariffs, which are taxes imposed on imported goods, or quotas, which limit the quantity of a specific good that can be imported. These measures help domestic industries by increasing the price of imported goods, making local products more competitive in the marketplace. This is especially important in industries that may struggle to compete with larger international companies or where the government wants to nurture emerging sectors.

In contrast, other options like investment rates, working hours, and employment rates do not directly serve the same purpose of protecting domestic industries from foreign competition. Instead, they pertain more to economic conditions or labor regulations and would not provide a strategic method for safeguarding local companies from external market forces. Hence, focusing on trade barriers is a targeted approach that governments can utilize to bolster their domestic industries effectively.