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A rule that limits the quantity or value of specified goods that may be imported over a stated period.
Save conceptAn import quota directly limits the amount of specified goods entering a market during a stated period. The limit may be expressed in physical units or value. To understand a quota, identify which products and origins are covered and the period over which the permitted amount is measured.
Authorities must administer the permitted imports, for example through licences or allocation rules. How the limit is shared matters to exporters and importers. Once the quantity is exhausted, treatment depends on the policy: some measures prevent further covered imports, while other arrangements allow entry under different terms. The word quota alone is not enough to establish the rule.
Suppose a hypothetical direct quota allows 100 units of a specified product during a year. If 70 qualifying units have entered, 30 remain, because 100 minus 70 equals 30. That remainder concerns the defined product and period. It does not describe all trade with the exporting country or establish the terms of any real vehicle agreement.
A quota differs from a , which taxes an import. A -rate quota instead permits an amount at one and applies another rate above it; it need not ban additional imports. Nor is a quota a manufacturing-content rule, which can determine eligibility for financial support. Separate quantity controls, taxes and support conditions when reading trade news.
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