The governments efforts to stifle the import of foreign electronic it

Question

The government’s efforts to stifle the import of foreign electronic items failed in 2000. If these efforts had been successful, the wholesale price of most electronic items would not have dropped substantially in 2000.

The argument in the passage depends on which of the following assumptions?

A) The foreign electronic goods supply fell considerably in 2000.
B) In 2000, the drop in the wholesale price of most foreign electronic items was not solely because of the drop in the demand of such items.
C) The domestic production of electronic items increased at a higher rate than did the import of such items.
D) In 2000, the wholesale price of a few foreign electronic items increased considerably.
E) The price to the average consumer for foreign electronic items did not drop considerably in 2000.

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Suyash750 · Answer

The answer would be B. 
Because in order for stifling the import logic to work, we need to assume that demand of the product did not reduce dramatically. Otherwise, it can be said that demand fell sharply which led to decline in price. If its not assumed that demand did not decrease dramatically, the argument will be destroyed.

Dereno · Answer

The government plans to suppress the import of foreign goods, but that plan has failed in 2000. Due to which the wholesale price of the electronic items has reduced substantially. This means as these imports suppressions methods failed, market was flooded with Imported electronic items, thus eventually leading to price drop.

Two key things needs attention here, the wholesale price and not the retail price, secondly it’s not about domestic or foreign electronic items in specific, but electronic items in general.

We need to find a suitable assumption.

Assumption is an external unstated premise that fills the logical gap. And, when the option is negated the conclusion falls apart.

A) The foreign electronic goods supply fell considerably in 2000.

This is contradictory to the facts mentioned in the question. Hence, wrong.

B) In 2000, the drop in the wholesale price of most foreign electronic items was not solely because of the drop in the demand of such items.

This option mentions the drop in wholesale prices of most foreign electronic items was not solely because of demand drop, as the supply was flooded with imported goods, the price of the electronic items fell down.

Negation test: If the drop in wholesale price of most foreign electronics items was solely because of the demand, then this mentions the demand for such products is low. Thus two possible outcomes, either the price is reduced or the import of foreign goods is reduced to prevent further flooding of goods. Thus the conclusion falls apart.

C) The domestic production of electronic items increased at a higher rate than did the import of such items.

If domestic production increased at a higher rate than the import of such items, then logically the price of domestic goods will be way below the actual price, if supply exceeds the demand. If this has been true, then domestic goods price might be comparatively lower than foreign goods. Moreover, the wholesale price of all electronic goods will not fall. Hence, Wrong.

D) In 2000, the wholesale price of a few foreign electronic items increased considerably.

The phrase few mentions a selected lot of foreign electronic items, and not the whole bunch. While the question stem speaks of the entire foreign electronic items. As we don’t know the impact of these few items in the pricing. Hence, Wrong.

E) The price to the average consumer for foreign electronic items did not drop considerably in 2000.

The question speaks about wholesale price but the option is about the average consumer price or the Retailer price. Hence, Wrong.

Option B

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Video explanation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihAqv9QptAQ

The governments efforts to stifle the import of foreign electronic it

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The governments efforts to stifle the import of foreign electronic it

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