President Herbert Hoover signs the Tariff Act of 1930, commonly known as the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act after its congressional sponsors Senator Reed Smoot (R-UT) and Representative Willis C. Hawley (R-OR), raising U.S. tariffs on over 20,000 imported goods to record levels. Hoover had campaigned in …
Herbert HooverReed SmootWillis C. HawleyU.S. Congressmanufacturing lobbyistscorporate-resistancetrade-policygreat-depressionlobbyingprotectionism
President Woodrow Wilson signs the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, commonly known as the Jones Act after its sponsor Senator Wesley Jones of Washington, mandating that all goods shipped between U.S. ports must be transported on ships that are American-built, American-owned, and American-crewed. The law …
President McKinley signs the Dingley Tariff Act into law, establishing the highest protective tariffs in U.S. history at an average of 52% in its first year of operation (57% increase on average). The act shields domestic industries from foreign competition by hiking duties on sugar, salt, tin cans, …
William McKinleyNelson Dingley Jr.Republican PartyIndustrial trustsManufacturing corporationsgilded-agecorporate-powereconomic-policyprotectionismmonopoly-power
Congress passes the Tariff of 1816, the first explicitly protective tariff in American history, taxing imported goods at a remarkable 25% rate to protect emerging domestic industries from cheap British goods flooding American markets after the War of 1812. The tariff represents the first pillar of …
Henry ClayU.S. CongressNorthern manufacturersSouthern planterseconomic-policysectional-conflictprotectionismamerican-systemregional-extraction