Statement: Should import duty on all the electronic goods be dispensed with?…

2025

Statement: Should import duty on all the electronic goods be dispensed with?

Arguments:

(I) No. This will considerably reduce the income of the government and will adversely affect the developmental activities.

(II) No. The local manufacturers will not be able to compete with the foreign manufacturers who are technologically far superior.

  1. A.

    Only argument I is strong

  2. B.

    Only argument II is strong

  3. C.

    Either I or II is strong

  4. D.

    Neither I nor II is strong

Attempted by 2 students.

Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: B

Concept: In Statement-and-Argument reasoning, an argument is judged "strong" only when it is (a) directly related to the statement and (b) addresses a real, important, and decisive aspect of the proposed action — its genuine practical merits or harms. An argument that is only superficially true, or that raises a comparatively minor, indirect, or easily-offset consideration, is "weak", however factually correct it may sound.

Application: Testing both given arguments against this standard.

Argument II says local manufacturers would be unable to compete with technologically far superior foreign firms once the duty is removed. This is a direct, serious, and directly relevant consequence of the exact policy proposed — the domestic electronics industry losing its ability to hold its ground against foreign competition — so it is strong.

Argument I says government revenue would fall and development would suffer. Although lifting a duty does reduce that revenue, this is an indirect, general fiscal concern that a government can offset from other sources; it points to a secondary budgetary side-effect rather than to any decisive practical harm of the policy itself, so it is not a convincing, strong argument.

Cross-check: The decisive question the statement raises is whether abolishing the duty would harm the domestic electronics sector. Argument II speaks directly to that harm, while Argument I only points to a secondary budgetary effect. Hence only Argument II is strong.

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