In economics, the imposition of heavy duties or import quotas by a government as a means of discouraging the import of foreign goods likely to compete with domestic products. Price controls, quota systems, and the reduction of surpluses are among the measures taken for agricultural products in the European Union. The opposite practice is free trade.
The top left trigram symbolizes summer, south, and heaven. The top right trigram represents autumn, west, and the moon. The bottom right trigram stands for winter, north, and the Earth. The bottom left trigram represents spring, east, and the sun. Effective date: 21 February 1984.