Explain export and import controls

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Export controls are usually applied by governments to militarily sensitive goods (e.g., computer hardware and software) to prevent unfriendly nations from obtaining these goods. In the United States, the Department of State, the Department of Commerce, and the Defense Department bear responsibility, under the Export Administration Act and the Arms Export Control Act, for authorizing the export of sensitive technology. Both criminal and administrative sanctions may be imposed on corporations and individuals who violate these laws.
Export controls often prevent U.S. companies from living up to negotiated contracts. Thus, they can damage the ability of U.S. firms to do business abroad.
Nations often set up import barriers to prevent foreign companies from destroying home industries. Two such controls are tariffs and quotas. Another form of import control is the imposition of antidumping duties by two U.S. agencies, the International Trade Commission (ITC) and the International Trade Administration (ITA). The duties are levied against foreign entities that sell the same goods at lower prices in U.S. markets than in their own in order to obtain a larger share of the U.S. market (i.e., entities that practice "dumping").