Protective

a.
  1. Affording protection; sheltering; defensive.
    2. Protective coloring (Zoöl.),
    coloring which serves for the concealment and preservation of a living organism. Cf. Mimicry.
    Protective tariff (Polit. Econ.),
    a tariff designed to secure protection (see Protection, 4.), as distinguished from a tariff designed to raise revenue. See Tariff, and Protection, 4.