protectionism typically costs much more than the actual worker’s salary. For example, a study published in

2002 compiled evidence that using protectionism to save an average job in the textile and apparel industry

would cost $199,000 per job saved. In other words, those workers could have been paid $100,000 per year to

be unemployed and the cost would only be half of what it is to keep them working in the textile and apparel

industry. This result is not unique to textiles and apparel.

Industry Protected with Import Tariffs or Quotas Annual Cost per Job Saved

Sugar

Polyethylene resins

Dairy products

Frozen concentrated orange juice

Ball bearings

Machine tools

Women’s handbags

Glassware

Apparel and textiles

Rubber footwear

Women’s nonathletic footwear

$826,000

$812,000

$685,000

$635,000

$603,000

$479,000

$263,000

$247,000

$199,000

$168,000

$139,000

TABLE 20.2 Cost to U.S. Consumers of Saving a Job through Protectionism
{"creator": "PDFMiner", "file_size_mb": 26.99, "title": "Principles of Microeconomics 3e", "source": "downloads\\business\\economics\\Microeconomics3e.pdf", "producer": "Prince 14.2 (www.princexml.com)", "total_pages": 597, "batch_upload": true, "moddate": "2022-12-07T14:23:05-06:00", "file_name": "Microeconomics3e.pdf", "creationdate": "2022-12-07T14:15:44-06:00", "source_file": "downloads\\business\\economics\\Microeconomics3e.pdf", "file_hash": "830b81f41611ac67a490444dbb5d6aed292224606965b06965b914443c93331a", "upload_timestamp": "2026-02-07T15:24:38.309401", "file_type": ".pdf", "uploaded_via": "batch_uploader"}