There is an opinion asserting that developing countries should consider high tariffs to empower their local industries. I wholeheartedly disagree with the given statement on the basis of the decrease in competition between local and oversea markets as well as the lack of suitable facilities for the purpose of producing all of the people’s necessities in local ones.
To begin with, if government officials attempt to increase the tariffs of the import, it will exert an effect on the public’s lives. Undoubtedly, when the cost of imported products dramatically increases, most of the people who are living in unprivileged families have to adapt themselves to local products and markets. Consequently, local industries can be completely sure that a majority of people who cannot afford the escalating cost of imported products have to purchase their needs from local markets. Thus, local industries do not seek to improve the quality of their products. For example, in some developing countries such as Iran, the tariffs of imported cars which are produced in reputable companies such as Benz or BMW, is higher than the mediocre, leading to the fact that most of the people are compelled to purchase low quality cars which are produced by local companies. It is mainly because local companies which are responsible for producing vehicles have not sought to improve their productivity and the quality of their products.
Furthermore, never can developing countries provide all of the public’s needs with the help of local markets because of the lack of some infrastructures or ingredients. Unquestionably, to produce some essential goods, special ingredients are needed that cannot be manufactured in local industries. For instance, although high quality fertilizers are known as essential chemicals for agricultural industry, especially in developing countries, the quality of ingredients is more important than the process of producing them. Hence, some developing countries such as India or Iran have attempted to import the ingredient of them from developed countries such as the USA or the UK. As another example, some staple ingredients such as cocoa seeds, which have known as the cornerstone of most of the deserts or international dishes, have grown in special circumstances, resulting in the fact that most of the countries irrespective of the situation have to import them. Thus, if the tariffs of some ingredients considerably soar, it can exert an adverse effect on other industries such as agriculture or food.
In the light of these facts, although some people assume that if tariffs of imported goods strikingly increase, the local industries have a chance to develop, from my perspective, it can have a detrimental impact on people’s lives because of the decrease in the quality of products and the shortage of ingredients to manufacture essential products.