Why did the United States participate in the Washington Naval Conference of 1921-1922? • to reduce barriers to international trade
• to work with other nations to prevent future wars
• to expand American influence over Asia and Latin America
• to form a defense against the aggressive acquisition of new territories

the correct answer is “opportunity cost”. opportunity cost is what a company misses out because it decided in one option over another one. in this case, the company decided to invest in building a factory so it gave up another possible benefit or profit in order to achieve success with the factory.  

trade-off is not the correct answer since it is a situation in which you accept losing something in return for benefits in other areas.

and finally, consequence is a general term used to accept what it comes when you make a decision. it can be a positive or negative consequence depending if the decision you took was the correct one.  

a big one is

to appoint and regulate officers of the land and naval forces,

which caused much controversy ending the articles

the united states broke it's neutrality was the constant german sinking of trading vessels resulting in the loss of lives, one example would be the lusitania.