The United States has used this mechanism to punish nations that violate human rights or threaten the interests of the United States.

• A. Tariffs
• B. Trade Sanctions
• C. Embargo
• D. Boycott

Answer: (B)

Economic penalties called sanctions are government tools used to influence another country’s behavior by applying pressure without military force. When the United States wants to respond to human rights abuses or threats, it often uses trade sanctions—measures that restrict or stop trade with the offending country, such as limiting imports or exports, freezing assets, or imposing other trade barriers. This approach targets the economic lifelines of a nation to push for changes, while avoiding direct use of force.

Tariffs are taxes on imports and are about raising revenue or protecting domestic industries, though they can be used as pressure, they aren’t the broad mechanism described. An embargo is a more extreme form of sanction that blocks all trade with a country, which is a specific type of sanction but not the general term for the whole policy. A boycott is typically a voluntary action by individuals or groups, not a government policy. Trade sanctions best capture the concept of the government using economic pressure to address violations or threats.