Jim Whitney   March 16, 2011

Infant industry analysis Brazil's steel market as an infant industry

 

    Because of time needed to learn, Brazil's steel supply is initially too costly to compete at the world price. Suppose that Brazil's goal is to get a steel industry established, with output at Q=6. However, Brazil's steel industry cannot get started without government help. 
    Consider the impact of a tariff and a production subsidy as two infant-industry options for encouraging production at Q=6.

    Step 1: Complete the tariff column in the table below.
    Step 2: Complete the subsidy column in the table.

 

Tariff

Production subsidy
Price buyers pay (Pb)    
Price domestic sellers receive (Ps)    
Compared to free trade:
Change in consumer surplus    
Change in producer surplus    
Change in government revenue    
Change in national welfare