I’ve no doubt that importing goods does create some jobs, but not all jobs are equal. A manufacturing job may pay five times what a retail sales job pays. Manufacturing jobs also create more jobs to support them.
The best example in economics is mining, a unique historical economic benchmark. Economic zones that mine prosper, when mining declines, they decline. This is because mines create many more businesses, with a ripple effect to an economy.
By the time nations create tariffs and trade barriers, they are usually already in trouble, and it might take many years to show positive results to limiting trade. But it is most likely a better result than free trade over time.
To cite an example of a free trade disaster, a reason for the huge trade imbalance between China and the US can be seen outside of the West Coast ports. Immense number of expensive Chinese built shipping containers that radically increased the cost of imports, because they were never sent back. The back haul was too expensive. Now stacked in mountains and slowly rusting.
At the same time, there was explosive growth in the Chinese shipping container industry. And iron and coal mining, and smelting, and sheet metal fabrication. Their industries boomed, while ours went bust.
By the time nations create tariffs and trade barriers, they are usually already in trouble, and it might take many years to show positive results to limiting trade...That reasoning may be all that some folks need for spending money, but when successful people spend time and money they actually check the hard numbers from historical records. That's why I included links to tariffs and jobs in my last post. In case those linked tables were too hard to follow here're the data plotted--
--and what we got is actual recorded hikes in import taxes have been followed by record spikes in unemployment, while import tax cuts were followed by more jobs. Of course, while you're free to vote for import tax hikes as you want, most of the rest of us see ourselves better off with tax cuts and vote accordingly.
The reason for what you have outlined is the IMF. The nation defaults on IMF loans and they come in and take over.
The first thing they do is impose import controls and tariffs. They then hire one of the Clobal agencies, SGS, Bureau Veritas, Intertek or Cotecna, to survey the cargo before export and then determine if the proforma value is within acceptably limits. A Pre shipment Inspection is made at the exporter’s warehouse prior to shipment. The inspection result are evaluated for proper pricing. A clean certification is made and shipment goes forward.
In some instances, the countries lack the expertise or are corrupt or both and one of the above is hired as the government contractor overseeing all import operations. They then survey the shipment in the exporting nation to assure all is in order. The goal is to be certain that the import prices are not under stated to reduce tariff.