The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 was a U.S. law that raised tariffs on over 20,000 imported goods to historically high levels. Sponsored by Senator Reed Smoot and Representative Willis C. Hawley, it was signed into law by President Herbert Hoover on June 17, 1930. The act aimed to protect American farmers and industries from foreign competition by increasing the cost of imported goods and encouraging domestic production.
Key features included tariff rates reaching up to 50% on some imports, with an average increase from about 38% to 45% over previous levels. It expanded on the Fordney-McCumber Tariff of 1922, but its scope and severity were unprecedented. The legislation was highly controversial. Over 1,000 economists signed a petition urging Hoover to veto it, warning of retaliatory trade measures and economic harm.
The effects were significant. Many countries, including Canada and European nations, retaliated with their own tariffs, leading to a sharp decline in international trade—U.S. exports and imports dropped by about 67% between 1929 and 1933, which exacerbated the Great Depression as global economic cooperation broke down. While it’s debated how much Smoot-Hawley directly caused the Depression’s severity, it’s widely seen as a policy misstep that worsened an already dire situation.
Throughout most of my adult life I've attributed the longevity of that period of economic austerity to FDR's policies. It would appear that this Tariff Act did not help matters, and very likely contributed to making them worse.
One difference between Smoot-Hawley and today's tariff action is that the latter was enacted by executive order, the former by an act of Congress.
Politically, it contributed to the Republican Party’s loss in the 1932 elections, paving the way for Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration, which later shifted toward freer trade policies with the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act of 1934. Today, it’s often cited as a cautionary tale about protectionism’s unintended consequences.
Whether addressing local, state or Federal issues, it's not a matter of intentions that we judge our leaders by. Everyone claims their intentions were good. As for how this current action plays out, one would hope that our whimsical tariff war doesn't trigger a decade-long global economic slide. During a portion of that Great Depression there was 25% unemployment and food lines. What happens next in our current scenario is anyone's guess.
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Painting at the top of the page by my grandmother, Elizabeth Sandy.
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