Country friend importing gold tower (8)
I believe the answer is:
portugal
'country' is the definition.
(Portugal is an example)
'friend importing gold tower' is the wordplay.
'friend' becomes 'pal' (pal is a kind of friend**).
'importing' indicates putting letters inside.
'gold' becomes 'or' ('or' is the heraldic name for gold).
'tower' becomes 'tug' (something that tows).
'or'+'tug'='ortug'
'pal' placed around 'ortug' is 'PORTUGAL'.
(Other definitions for portugal that I've seen before include "Southwest European country" , "Iberian country" , "in E" , "Its capital is Lisbon" , "Iberian state" .)