diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 8ae7280..26e5947 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/AlecAivazis/survey/v2 v2.2.9
 	github.com/BurntSushi/toml v0.3.1
 	github.com/daixiang0/gci v0.2.8
+	github.com/fujiwara/shapeio v1.0.0
 	github.com/kr/pretty v0.1.0 // indirect
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.7.0
 	github.com/urfave/cli/v2 v2.3.0
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index cbbc2f3..ae78736 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@ github.com/daixiang0/gci v0.2.8/go.mod h1:+4dZ7TISfSmqfAGv59ePaHfNzgGtIkHAhhdKgg
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.0/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1 h1:vj9j/u1bqnvCEfJOwUhtlOARqs3+rkHYY13jYWTU97c=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
+github.com/dustin/go-humanize v1.0.0 h1:VSnTsYCnlFHaM2/igO1h6X3HA71jcobQuxemgkq4zYo=
+github.com/dustin/go-humanize v1.0.0/go.mod h1:HtrtbFcZ19U5GC7JDqmcUSB87Iq5E25KnS6fMYU6eOk=
+github.com/fujiwara/shapeio v1.0.0 h1:xG5D9oNqCSUUbryZ/jQV3cqe1v2suEjwPIcEg1gKM8M=
+github.com/fujiwara/shapeio v1.0.0/go.mod h1:LmEmu6L/8jetyj1oewewFb7bZCNRwE7wLCUNzDLaLVA=
 github.com/hinshun/vt10x v0.0.0-20180616224451-1954e6464174 h1:WlZsjVhE8Af9IcZDGgJGQpNflI3+MJSBhsgT5PCtzBQ=
 github.com/hinshun/vt10x v0.0.0-20180616224451-1954e6464174/go.mod h1:DqJ97dSdRW1W22yXSB90986pcOyQ7r45iio1KN2ez1A=
 github.com/kballard/go-shellquote v0.0.0-20180428030007-95032a82bc51 h1:Z9n2FFNUXsshfwJMBgNA0RU6/i7WVaAegv3PtuIHPMs=
@@ -64,6 +68,8 @@ golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20210119212857-b64e53b001e4/go.mod h1:h1NjWce9XRLGQEsW7w
 golang.org/x/text v0.3.0/go.mod h1:NqM8EUOU14njkJ3fqMW+pc6Ldnwhi/IjpwHt7yyuwOQ=
 golang.org/x/text v0.3.3 h1:cokOdA+Jmi5PJGXLlLllQSgYigAEfHXJAERHVMaCc2k=
 golang.org/x/text v0.3.3/go.mod h1:5Zoc/QRtKVWzQhOtBMvqHzDpF6irO9z98xDceosuGiQ=
+golang.org/x/time v0.0.0-20210220033141-f8bda1e9f3ba h1:O8mE0/t419eoIwhTFpKVkHiTs/Igowgfkj25AcZrtiE=
+golang.org/x/time v0.0.0-20210220033141-f8bda1e9f3ba/go.mod h1:tRJNPiyCQ0inRvYxbN9jk5I+vvW/OXSQhTDSoE431IQ=
 golang.org/x/tools v0.0.0-20180917221912-90fa682c2a6e/go.mod h1:n7NCudcB/nEzxVGmLbDWY5pfWTLqBcC2KZ6jyYvM4mQ=
 golang.org/x/tools v0.0.0-20191119224855-298f0cb1881e/go.mod h1:b+2E5dAYhXwXZwtnZ6UAqBI28+e2cm9otk0dWdXHAEo=
 golang.org/x/tools v0.0.0-20201118003311-bd56c0adb394/go.mod h1:emZCQorbCU4vsT4fOWvOPXz4eW1wZW4PmDk9uLelYpA=
diff --git a/internal/throttler/throttler.go b/internal/throttler/throttler.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7175994
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/throttler/throttler.go
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+package throttler
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"regexp"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/fujiwara/shapeio"
+	"github.com/influxdata/influx-cli/v2/pkg/csv2lp"
+)
+
+type Throttler struct {
+	bytesPerSecond float64
+}
+
+func NewThrottler(rate string) (*Throttler, error) {
+	bytesPerSec, err := ToBytesPerSecond(rate)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return &Throttler{bytesPerSecond: bytesPerSec}, nil
+}
+
+func (t *Throttler) Throttle(ctx context.Context, in io.Reader) io.Reader {
+	if t.bytesPerSecond == 0.0 {
+		return in
+	}
+
+	// LineReader ensures that original reader is consumed in the smallest possible
+	// units (at most one protocol line) to avoid bigger pauses in throttling
+	throttledReader := shapeio.NewReaderWithContext(csv2lp.NewLineReader(in), ctx)
+	throttledReader.SetRateLimit(t.bytesPerSecond)
+
+	return throttledReader
+}
+
+var rateLimitRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`^(\d*\.?\d*)(B|kB|MB)/?(\d*)?(s|sec|m|min)$`)
+var bytesUnitMultiplier = map[string]float64{"B": 1, "kB": 1024, "MB": 1_048_576}
+var timeUnitMultiplier = map[string]float64{"s": 1, "sec": 1, "m": 60, "min": 60}
+
+// ToBytesPerSecond converts rate from string to number. The supplied string
+// value format must be COUNT(B|kB|MB)/TIME(s|sec|m|min) with / and TIME being optional.
+// All spaces are ignored, they can help with formatting. Examples: "5 MB / 5 min", 17kbs. 5.1MB5m.
+func ToBytesPerSecond(rateLimit string) (float64, error) {
+	// ignore all spaces
+	strVal := strings.ReplaceAll(rateLimit, " ", "")
+	if len(strVal) == 0 {
+		return 0, nil
+	}
+
+	matches := rateLimitRegexp.FindStringSubmatch(strVal)
+	if matches == nil {
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid rate limit %q: it does not match format COUNT(B|kB|MB)/TIME(s|sec|m|min) with / and TIME being optional, rexpexp: %v", strVal, rateLimitRegexp)
+	}
+	bytes, err := strconv.ParseFloat(matches[1], 64)
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid rate limit %q: '%v' is not count of bytes: %v", strVal, matches[1], err)
+	}
+	bytes = bytes * bytesUnitMultiplier[matches[2]]
+	var time float64
+	if len(matches[3]) == 0 {
+		time = 1 // number is not specified, for example 5kbs or 1Mb/s
+	} else {
+		int64Val, err := strconv.ParseUint(matches[3], 10, 32)
+		if err != nil {
+			return 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid rate limit %q: time is out of range: %v", strVal, err)
+		}
+		if int64Val <= 0 {
+			return 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid rate limit %q: positive time expected but %v supplied", strVal, matches[3])
+		}
+		time = float64(int64Val)
+	}
+	time = time * timeUnitMultiplier[matches[4]]
+	return bytes / time, nil
+}
diff --git a/internal/throttler/throttler_test.go b/internal/throttler/throttler_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6a1caa1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/throttler/throttler_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+package throttler_test
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"context"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/influxdata/influx-cli/v2/internal/throttler"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestThrottlerPassthrough(t *testing.T) {
+	// Hard to test that rate-limiting actually works, so we just check
+	// that no data is lost.
+	in := "Hello world!"
+	throttler, err := throttler.NewThrottler("1B/s")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	r := throttler.Throttle(context.Background(), strings.NewReader(in))
+
+	out := bytes.Buffer{}
+	_, err = out.ReadFrom(r)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	require.Equal(t, in, out.String())
+}
+
+func TestToBytesPerSecond(t *testing.T) {
+	var tests = []struct {
+		in    string
+		out   float64
+		error string
+	}{
+		{
+			in:  "5 MB / 5 min",
+			out: float64(5*1024*1024) / float64(5*60),
+		},
+		{
+			in:  "17kBs",
+			out: float64(17 * 1024),
+		},
+		{
+			in:  "1B/m",
+			out: float64(1) / float64(60),
+		},
+		{
+			in:  "1B/2sec",
+			out: float64(1) / float64(2),
+		},
+		{
+			in:  "",
+			out: 0,
+		},
+		{
+			in:    "1B/munite",
+			error: `invalid rate limit "1B/munite": it does not match format COUNT(B|kB|MB)/TIME(s|sec|m|min) with / and TIME being optional`,
+		},
+		{
+			in:    ".B/s",
+			error: `invalid rate limit ".B/s": '.' is not count of bytes:`,
+		},
+		{
+			in:    "1B0s",
+			error: `invalid rate limit "1B0s": positive time expected but 0 supplied`,
+		},
+		{
+			in:    "1MB/42949672950s",
+			error: `invalid rate limit "1MB/42949672950s": time is out of range`,
+		},
+	}
+	for _, test := range tests {
+		t.Run(test.in, func(t *testing.T) {
+			bytesPerSec, err := throttler.ToBytesPerSecond(test.in)
+			if len(test.error) == 0 {
+				require.Equal(t, test.out, bytesPerSec)
+				require.Nil(t, err)
+			} else {
+				require.NotNil(t, err)
+				// contains is used, since the error messages contains root cause that may evolve with go versions
+				require.Contains(t, err.Error(), test.error)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}