Trade Policy: Part 1
Unit 4 · Lesson 4.11 · Last updated June 2026
A 45-minute lesson where students analyze multiple stakeholder perspectives on a real U.S. tariff on washing machines to evaluate who benefits and who bears the cost — and explore the political pressures that shape trade policy decisions.
Overview
Students explore the economic impact of tariffs by analyzing nine perspectives on the U.S. tariff imposed on washing machines from 2018 to 2023. Through guided discussion and reflection, students are introduced to the political pressures behind trade policy decisions and apply economic reasoning to assess who benefits and who bears the cost. This is Part 1 of a two-lesson sequence — Lesson 4.12 turns to trade agreements and support programs.
Learning Objectives
- Evaluate the impact of trade on different stakeholders.
- Analyze and evaluate arguments related to international trade.
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Materials
- Instruction Slides (display during class period)
- Student Handout pp. 4–5 (1 copy per student)
- Perspectives pp. 6–9 (Class Set — 1 copy per pair, cut into 9 strips)
- KEY Summarizer p. 10 (1 copy for educator reference)
Lesson Sequence
Slides 2–5
- Display Slide 2. Ask students to discuss the questions on the slide with a peer. Briefly debrief as a class. Highlight that people are more likely to leave reviews when they are particularly passionate about or impacted by a product or experience. (Additional educator tips and suggested answers are in the notes section throughout Instruction Slides.)
- Proceed to Slide 3. Explain that constituents are similarly moved to action when they are passionate about an issue or when they will be greatly impacted. Click to reveal the textbox and tell students this pattern applies to international trade policy too.
- Advance to Slide 4. Note that policymakers try to balance the economy-wide benefits of international trade with the costs borne by specific groups. Explain that the next two lessons focus on how governments attempt to balance these competing interests — today's lesson focuses on tariffs, and Lesson 4.12 turns to trade agreements and support programs.
- Proceed to Slide 5. Explain the learning objectives.
Slides 6–20
- Progress through Slides 6–7. Distribute 1 copy of Student Handout to each student and define tariff.
- Advance to Slide 8. Direct students to consider their response to the prompt and share with a peer. Tell students they will explore the effects of such a policy later in the lesson.
- Display Slide 9. Remind students that economists are social scientists who often rely on natural experiments to answer questions.
- Proceed to Slide 10. Explain that the 2018 washing machine tariffs provided a natural experiment economists could use to analyze the effects of tariffs. Remind students that economists rely on data to support their conclusions and inform recommendations.
- Organize students into pairs (groups of 3 if needed).
- Progress through Slides 11–12. Explain that students will have 15 minutes to review the perspectives and add notes to the chart on Student Handout. Remind students the goal is to understand and articulate competing perspectives — not to find a "right" answer. Distribute 1 copy of Perspectives to each pair and allow students to begin. Circulate to answer questions. Note: Enlarged versions of visual perspectives D, F, and H are on Slides 23–25 if needed. Consider posting Perspectives to your LMS for future reference.
- After 15 minutes, collect Perspectives from groups.
- Display Slide 13. Introduce the "Check for Understanding" activity on Student Handout. Allow approximately 2 minutes to complete it individually.
- Advance through Slides 14–17. Click to reveal correct responses and briefly review reactions and explanations as a class. Encourage students to correct and annotate their handouts. (See slide notes for debrief support.)
- Proceed to Slide 18. Tell students to discuss their responses to the questions and record them on Student Handout. Debrief as a class.
- Display Slide 19. Emphasize that policymakers often face conflicting pressures from different groups of voters.
- Proceed to Slide 20. Identify the dynamic that exists when there are concentrated benefits and dispersed costs. Click to reveal text and identify which group is likely to engage lobbyists and why.
Slides 21–22
- Progress through Slides 21–22. Instruct students to consider the scenario on the slide and respond to the questions in the "Summarizer" section of their handout.
- Collect Student Handout and review summarizer responses for misconceptions or gaps. Address at the start of the next lesson. (Reference KEY Summarizer for possible responses.)
Aligned Standards
Voluntary National Content Standards in Economics
What Educators Are Saying
Students were able to cover misconceptions about tariffs with what they've learned previously in U.S. History and what they may hear in the news.
I was able to clear up a bunch of student misconceptions about who pays for tariffs. It helps that a prior lesson emphasized that trade is conducted between individuals and firms rather than between countries.
The lessons I have used so far have been very engaging.