The Trump administration’s trade policies have revived interest in the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act—arguably the most prominent example of protectionism in US history. Passed in 1930 and named after Senator Reed Smoot, Republican of Utah, and Representative Willis Hawley, Republican of Oregon, the law is widely remembered as a major policy error. It deepened the Great Depression both in the United States and abroad and impaired international trade relations for years to come.
As chairmen of the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee, respectively, Smoot and Hawley lent their names to a Republican-sponsored tariff bill that raised import duties to historically high levels just as the US economy was collapsing. The bill was highly controversial: Democrats condemned it; economists petitioned Congress to reject it; and foreign governments lodged protests—all to no avail.
The US already had a high-tariff regime in place when Smoot-Hawley took effect. The Fordney- McCumber Tariff Act of 1922 had significantly raised duties and triggered retaliatory measures from Europe, but it did not prevent the economic boom that characterised the 1920s.
However, the 1920s were difficult for American farmers, who struggled with overproduction, falling prices and rising competition from a recovering Europe. Throughout the decade, they lobbied for additional protection. When Herbert Hoover ran for president in 1928 as the Republican nominee, he pledged to raise tariffs on agricultural products.
Once in office, however, lobbying from other sectors— particularly manufacturing—broadened the push for tariff increases. This led to the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, which sharply raised import duties across numerous sectors. The bill passed narrowly in the Senate but easily in the House, reflecting strong Republican support, particularly from business and agricultural interests.
The legislation provoked fierce opposition. More than 1,000 economists, including many who were prominent at the time, signed an open letter urging President Hoover to veto the bill. Foreign governments warned of retaliatory measures and Democrats denounced the act as economically reckless. Yet Hoover, under political pressure and determined to honour his campaign commitments, signed it into law in June 1930.
The timing of the Smoot-Hawley Act could hardly have been worse, coming shortly after the 1929 stock market crash that had already triggered a sharp economic downturn. Although economic historians generally agree that the Act did not cause the Great Depression - if anything, the downturn likely increased calls for protectionism - it unquestionably made the crisis harder to manage.