Tariffs, quotas, exchange rates and the balance of trade
Grade 12 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.
Ari compares the two lines. Which statement does the table support?
- Home makers lose, since imports fall from 600 to 400 and so they sell fewer bikes
- Home makers gain 100 more bikes made, while buyers pay $20 more and buy 100 fewer
- Buyers gain, since the price of $120 pays for more bikes made at home for them
- No one loses, since the government collects the tariff and spends it for the public
Bo asks how much revenue the $20 tariff raises. Which answer fits the table?
Use the picture in question 1.
- $2,000: $20 on each of the 100 bikes that buyers give up after the tariff
- $8,000: $20 on each of the 400 bikes still imported
- $20,000: $20 on each of the 1,000 bikes that were bought at home before
- $12,000: $20 on each of the 600 bikes that were imported before the tariff
Does the tariff raise or lower the number of bikes bought at home? Esme gives a reason. Which one is right?
Use the picture in question 1.
- It lowers it, from 1,000 to 400, since just home-made bikes are bought after a tariff
- It raises it, since more bikes are made at home and so more bikes are bought at home
- It lowers it, from 1,000 to 900: the price is higher, so buyers cut back
- It stays the same, since imports fall by as much as home production rises
A union says the tariff protects 100 bikes of home work (400 to 500). Jun asks what the table leaves out. Which is it?
Use the picture in question 1.
- Whether home makers made more, since the table gives production for free trade alone
- Whether imports fell, since the table gives just the home figures for each line
- Whether the price rose, since the table lists the world price for both lines
- Whether makers' gain is worth what buyers lose: they pay more on each of 900 bikes
Read this first
Use this
The dollar and the yen (example figures, made up for practice). Columns: Year, Yen per dollar, A U.S. bike costs, A Japanese camera costs. 1, 100, $1,000, 10,000 yen; 2, 125, $1,000, 10,000 yen. Prices in each country's own money do not change. The dollar appreciates when it buys more yen.
Kira compares year 1 with year 2. Which statement about the dollar is supported?
- The dollar depreciated, since 125 is a bigger number than 100 and so it buys more
- The yen appreciated, since it takes more yen to buy a dollar in the second year
- Nothing happened to the dollar, since the dollar prices of the goods did not change
- The dollar appreciated: it buys 125 yen in year 2, up from 100 in year 1
Milo finds the price of the Japanese camera in dollars. Which statement is right?
- It stays at $100, since the camera still costs 10,000 yen in both years
- It falls from $100 to $75, since the yen lost a quarter of its dollar value
- It falls from $100 to $80, so U.S. buyers are likely to buy more of it
- It rises from $100 to $125, since the number of yen per dollar went up by 25
A student says a stronger dollar is good because everything gets cheaper for Americans. Noah tests it. What is the best reply?
- False: exchange rates have no effect on the prices that buyers pay for goods
- True: a stronger dollar lowers the cost of each good, so Americans gain
- False: a stronger dollar raises the price of imports as well as the price of exports
- Half true: imports cost Americans less, but U.S. goods cost more abroad
Use this
Two example countries' trade (example figures, made up for practice). Columns: Country, Exports, Imports. Norden, $300 billion, $350 billion; Brava, $500 billion, $450 billion. The trade balance is exports minus imports. A deficit means imports are larger than exports; a surplus means exports are larger.
Pia reads the balance for each country. Which statement is right?
- Norden has a $350 billion deficit, the size of its imports, and Brava has a surplus
- Brava has a $50 billion deficit and Norden has a $50 billion surplus
- Both countries have surpluses, since each country exports many billions of dollars
- Norden has a $50 billion deficit and Brava has a $50 billion surplus
Tala asks which change would cut Norden's deficit to $20 billion. Which one does?
- Exports and imports both rising by $30 billion, because both sides of trade grow together
- Exports falling by $30 billion with imports unchanged, because that shrinks the deficit's size
- Imports rising by $30 billion with exports unchanged, because more goods help the economy
- Exports rising by $30 billion with imports unchanged
Norden's currency depreciates. Zee predicts what tends to happen to its deficit. Which prediction is best?
- It disappears at once: a depreciation turns a deficit into a surplus in the same year
- It does not change: a currency's value affects the price of money, not the price of traded goods
- It tends to widen: Norden's exports cost foreign buyers more and its imports cost Norden's buyers less
- It tends to narrow: its exports cost foreign buyers less and its imports cost its buyers more