Labor unions and businesses in the heavy equipment industry have asked the u. s. congress to place a tax on imported equipment in order to make it more expensive. they hope that this will allow u. s. producers to be more competitive. the u. s. heavy equipment industry appears to be seeking a(n):

Protective tariff

Explanation: Protective tariffs are basically designed to protect the domestic producers from foreign competition. These tariffs raise the retail price of imported products making them expensive in comparison to domestic  products and thereby making domestic products more  competitive.

Thus, by placing a tax on imported equipment in order to make it more expensive, these industries hope that Protective tariff will allow u.s. producers to be more competitive.

b. a single paragraph.

a paragraph is a series of sentences that are organized and make sense, and are all related to a single topic . almost every piece of writing you do that is longer than a few sentences should be organized into paragraphs. this is because paragraphs show a reader where the subdivisions of an essay begin and end, and thus the reader see the organization of the essay into subjects in order to be able to understand its main points.