What imposes a limit on the amount of a specific good that can be imported?

Import quotas are specific limits set by a government on the quantity of a particular good that can be imported into a country during a specified timeframe. This regulatory tool is used to control the volume of imports in order to protect domestic industries from foreign competition, maintain market stability, and achieve economic goals. By restricting the number of goods that can enter the market, import quotas help ensure that local businesses can compete more effectively, preserving jobs and encouraging domestic production.

Subsidies, while they can affect the market, primarily involve financial assistance given to support domestic producers, which does not directly limit imports. Voluntary export restraints are agreements between exporting and importing countries that limit the amount of goods exported, but these are not imposed by laws on imports. Anti-dumping measures aim to protect domestic producers from foreign goods being sold at unfairly low prices, but they do not impose a direct limit on the quantity of imports like quotas do. Thus, import quotas are the specific mechanism used to impose restrictions on the amount of goods that can be imported.