LogFAQs > #902331415

Gonna post what I put in the other two topics:

https://fee.org/articles/the-smoot-hawley-tariff-and-the-great-depression/

Summary: In 1930, President Hoover levied taxes of up to 40 to 60 per cent on imported goods under the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, in an effort to protect United States businesses and consumers.

However, the results of the act saw a number of negative effects: national income fell by 36 per cent, unemployment increased from 3 to over 25 per cent and 40 per cent of all banks were permanently closed.

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A recent example of negative effects of protectionism can be seen as recently as 2002, when then-President George Bush impose tariffs on steel of between 8 and 30 per cent, to be in effect until 2005. The European Union threatened retaliatory action and the World Trade Organisation ruled against the United States, seeing the tariffs removed. However, the United States Dollar index fell from 115 in January 2002 to a low of 81 in January 2005.

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Trying to do bilateral deals with EVERYONE and slapping tariffs on goods and services, particularly imports, leads to LESS jobs, reduced national income/savings, and higher costs of goods and services.

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>_> I'm not even American, but I'm pretty passionate about free trade and globalisation in case you couldn't tell
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When goods do not cross borders, soldiers will. Frederic Bastiat, French economist (1801-1850)