Tariff Table- US History
Year
Name
1789
Tariff of 1789
1816
Tariff of 1816
1824
Tariff of 1824
1828
"Tariff of
Abominations"
1832
Tariff of 1832
1833
Tariff of 1833
1842
Tariff of 1842
1846
Walker Tariff
1857
Tariff of 1857
18611865
Wartime tariff acts
1872
Tariff of 1872
1875
Tariff of 1875
1883
"Mongrel" Tariff
1890
McKinley Tariff
1894
Wilson-Gorman Tariff
1897
Dingley Tariff
Description
Primarily for revenue; some protection for "infant
industries;" (Washington administration).
First protective tariff; Clay and Calhoun supported as part of
American System; Southern cotton growers opposed;
(Madison administration).
Further heightening of rates; growing opposition from
South; (Monroe administration).
Higher protective measures for New England mills;
Southerners outraged, including Calhoun; (J.Q. Adams
administration).
Moderate reform returned rates to 1824 levels; unmoved
South Carolina sparked Nullification Crisis; (Jackson
administration).
Clay compromise; gradual reduction of rates over time to
1816 levels; New England states opposed; (Jackson
administration).
Upward revision forced by depression following Panic of
1837; (Tyler administration).
Democrats controlled Congress; West supported tariff
reduction in hope of selling grain abroad; move toward tariff
for revenue only; (Polk administration).
Downward tariff revision to almost free trade status; North
opposed; (Buchanan administration).
Steadily increased protectionism to help fund Union war
costs; South not represented in Congress during Civil War;
(Buchanan and Lincoln administrations).
Post-war reform tariff, reduced rates on some manufactured
goods; (Grant administration).
Continued downward revision; average rates reduced by 10
percent; (Grant administration).
Republicans abandoned reform; compromise satisfied no
one; (Arthur administration).
Highest protective tariff to date: average 48 percent; (B.
Harrison administration).
Reform measure crippled by Senate amendments;
(Cleveland 2nd administration).
Blatantly protective measure; some rates at 57 percent;
(McKinley administration).
1909
Payne-Aldrich Tariff
1913
Underwood-Simmons
Tariff
1921
Emergency Tariff
1922
Fordney-McCumber
Tariff
1930
Smoot-Hawley Tariff
1934
Hull Trade Pacts
1948
General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade
(GATT)
Attempt to lower average level of duties; little meaningful
reform; Progressives angered; (Taft administration).
Democrats took control of Congress; general duty reduction
soon negated by outbreak of World War I; federal income
tax provision; (Wilson administration).
Republicans returned to power and responded to minidepression; raised agricultural rates to protect farmers; only
a stopgap measure until new law written; (Harding
administration).
Increased rates sharply; president empowered to adjust rates;
Tariff Commission created to advise president; (Harding
administration).
Raised U.S. duties to an all-time high; 1,000 economists
protested; foreign retaliation; (Hoover administration).
Reciprocal treaties to reduce tariffs and stimulate trade
during depression; (F. Roosevelt administration).
United Nations organization created to seek tariff reductions.
President received authority to negotiate tariff reductions up
to 50 percent; aimed primarily at European Economic
Community (later European Union); (Kennedy
administration).
GATT talks aimed at tariff reduction, primarily with
Western Europe; approximate 33 percent reductions; (L.
Johnson administration).
GATT talks aimed at non-tariff trade barriers; included nonGATT members; (Nixon administration).
President given authority to end tariff duties against products
from developing nations; (Ford administration).
1962
Trade Expansion Act
19631967
"Kennedy Round"
19731979
"Tokyo Round"
1974
Trade Act of 1974
1993
North American Free
Trade Agreement
(NAFTA)
U.S., Canada and Mexico end most trade barriers; (Clinton
administration).
1994
GATT/WTO
New GATT agreement signed; World Trade Organization
(WTO) formed; (Clinton administration).