Analysis | From Trump to the Great Depression, did tariffs ever truly help the US economy?
Tariffs, like Trump’s, have a chequered past, with experts suggesting access to resources and labour are key to growth, not levies
“We have a 20th century president in a 21st century economy who wants to take us back to the 19th century,” Dartmouth College economics professor Douglas Irwin posted on social media.
The 19th century marked the golden age of tariffs in the United States, with an average rate regularly flirting with 50 per cent.
The century extended a doctrine adopted since the country’s founding, which advocated for the protection of the American economy as it underwent a period of industrialisation.
“Careful studies of that period suggest that the tariffs did help protect domestic development of industry to some degree,” said Keith Maskus, a professor at the University of Colorado.
“But the two more important factors were access to international labour, and capital … which was flowing in the United States during that period,” he added.