protectionism

[ pruh-tek-shuh-niz-uhm ]

noun

1. Economics. the theory, practice, or system of fostering or developing domestic industries by protecting them from foreign competition through duties or quotas imposed on importations.
2. any program, policy, or system of laws that seeks to provide protection for property owners, wildlife, the environment, etc.

Other Words From

• pro·tection·ist noun adjective
• pro·tection·istic adjective
• anti·pro·tection·ist noun adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of protectionism¹

First recorded in 1855–60; protection + -ism

Example Sentences

Economists are still measuring this, in terms of lost production, economic “scarring”—particularly on employment—and a burgeoning and re-legitimized protectionism as global supply chains have failed on distributing both PPE and vaccines.

From Time

Geopolitical issues like protectionism make it harder to get the right materials delivered for products, and the lockdowns imposed during the pandemic have caused further supply chain issues.

From MIT Technology Review

This is despite a global backdrop of protectionism and the politicization of development institutions investing in emerging markets.

From Quartz

Rigidity, total ownership of processes and ideas, unwillingness to change once a plan is in place, and protectionism are all red flags.

From Search Engine Watch

In early March, it became apparent that many China-made supplies and equipment needed to control and treat infections were subject to tariffs, giving rise to attacks on protectionism as a public health threat.

From ProPublica

Guaranteed, short-term protectionism is a compassionate temptation that will rob us of long-term, society-altering breakthroughs.

From The Daily Beast

Apart from anything else, protectionism would be ruinous to developing countries.

From The Daily Beast

Protectionism for the industrial trade unions, then still important.

From The Daily Beast

And it achieves that end without stooping toward protectionism sops to special interests.

From The Daily Beast

In times of economic crisis, xenophobia blooms along with political conflict, protectionism and, in some places, racism.

From The Daily Beast

Protectionism, and the attitude of which it was born and which it bred in turn, was still firmly entrenched in both countries.

From Project Gutenberg

Realism and idealism contradict each other more absolutely than protectionism and free-trade.

From Project Gutenberg

A comparison between the theory and the actual practice of protectionism in the United States.

From Project Gutenberg

Protectionism here again pleads the excuse of universal delusion, and in no case is the excuse more needed.

From Project Gutenberg

And now the stones of which my protectionism was built up began to get uncomfortably loose.

From Project Gutenberg