Mar 6th 2025
<!–>Donald Trump’s tariffs are roiling the global trading system. But the president’s tariff-mania is far from unprecedented in American history. The last time tariffs of this scale were in place was after the passage of the Tariff Act of 1930, better known as the Smoot-Hawley tariff. The bill sparked a trade war between America and its allies, deepening the Depression and causing the world to break up into rival blocs. The Economist’s reporting from the time offers a cautionary tale about protectionism.–><!–>
]–>
–> Image: Topfoto
]–>
<!–>
]–>
[–>
<!–>
]–>
<!–>
]–>
[–>
<!–>
]–>
<!–>
]–>
–> Image: Bridgeman
]–>
<!–>
]–>
[–>
<!–>
]–>
[–>
<!–>
]–>
–> Image: Getty Images
]–>
<!–>“Protection”, we wrote at the time of the Smoot-Hawley tariff, “meant to be a good servant, becomes a dominant and costly master”. Just as the trade wars that Hoover’s tariffs fuelled were hard to contain, so too might be Mr Trump’s. And it is the consumer that will foot the bill. In 1930 we hoped that “if there is any comfort to be derived from this latest chapter in tariff folly, it is the belief that American eyes will be forcibly opened.” For much of the 20th century that optimism was repaid. Writing about Smoot-Hawley in 2008, we said that there were “plenty of reasons to think that the terrible lesson of the 1930s will not have to be learnt again”. Mr Trump’s return to protectionism shows that America is in need of a refresher course. ■–><!–>
]–>
]–>
