Countervailing Measure

A countervailing measure is a trade policy tool used by a country to protect its domestic industries from unfair foreign competition. When a country suspects that another nation is subsidizing its exports—meaning providing financial aid to make their products cheaper—it can impose additional tariffs or duties on those imports. These measures help level the playing field, ensuring that imported goods are fairly priced and that domestic producers are not harmed by unfair government support from abroad. Essentially, countervailing measures address and counteract subsidies that distort international trade fairness.