Mercantilism asserts that countries should simultaneously encourage exports and discourage imports. true or false

True.

Explanation:

The broader explanation is more is that nations actively try to increase current account surplus i.e. export more than you import,  whilst at the same time reducing current account deficits i.e. having imported more than exported within a financial trading year.

The main tool of the phenomenon included the use of high tariffs on imported manufactured goods. This discourages local companies from having to look to other manufacturing countries for cheap manufactured products, and look to buy from manufacturers within.

is this supposed to be a question