Principle: A government should reduce taxes on imports if doing so would financially benefit many consumers in its do...

SamA on May 24, 2020

Hello @Balwant,

The stimulus gives us a couple of principles, which can be understood with sufficient and necessary reasoning.

Financially benefit consumers ---> Should Reduce Import Taxes

Harms a domestic industry ---> Should Not Reduce Import Taxes

The stimulus gives us a conclusion: The government should not reduce taxes on textile imports.

If you will look back at the diagrams, you will notice that there is only one way to conclude that the government should not reduce import taxes. That is if a domestic industry is harmed. This is what we should look for among the answer choices. Do not be afraid of the word "any" in answer choice E, even if it is a strong word. "Any" simply guarantees that the textile tax reduction in question is included.

As for B, remember that "not benefitting" a domestic industry is not the same as "harming" a domestic industry. It may have no effect at all. This is why it is not covered by our second principle. Our first principle will never allow us to conclude that the government should not reduce import taxes, regardless of how few consumers it benefits. Remember that negating the sufficient condition does not allow us to draw any conclusions.

Balwant on May 25, 2020

This makes sense. Thank you