Indeed, as conventional trade barriers, such as tariffs and import quotas, have come down over the past half-century, others, such as discriminatory regulations, have sprung up to take their place.

ECONOMIST: A survey of world trade

President Bush is close to agreeing import quotas and tariffs on foreign steel, it says, and the emergency loan could have been secured with the right effort.

ECONOMIST: Lessons from the death of LTV

Countries agreed to lower their most blatant barriers to trade, such as import tariffs or quotas imposed at the border, while intervening at will, with taxes, subsidies and regulations, in their domestic economies.

ECONOMIST: At daggers drawn