Import Economy: This refers to economies that heavily rely on importing goods and services as opposed to producing them domestically. Like someone who doesn't cook at home but always orders takeout food.
Trade Deficit/Surplus: A trade deficit occurs when a country imports more goods than it exports, while a trade surplus is when a country exports more than it imports. It's like spending more money on takeout food than you earn from selling apples (deficit), or earning more from apple sales than you spend on takeouts (surplus).
Protectionism: This is the economic policy of restricting imports to protect domestic industries. It’s like our apple farmer lobbying his local government to limit the import of foreign apples so that he can sell more of his own.