Office of the Historian on the Smoot-Hawley tariff

Scholars disagree over the extent of protection actually afforded by the Smoot-Hawley tariff; they also differ over the issue of whether the tariff provoked a wave of foreign retaliation that plunged the world deeper into the Great Depression.  What is certain, however, is that Smoot-Hawley did nothing to foster cooperation among nations in either the economic or political realm during a perilous era in international relations.  It quickly became a symbol of the “beggar-thy-neighbor” policies of the 1930s.  Such policies, which were adopted by many countries during this time, contributed to a drastic contraction of international trade.  For example, U.S. imports from Europe declined from a 1929 high of $1,334 million to just $390 million in 1932, while U.S. exports to Europe fell from $2,341 million in 1929 to $784 million in 1932.  Overall, world trade declined by some 66% between 1929 and 1934. 

Smoot-Hawley marked the end of the line for high tariffs in 20th century American trade policy.  Thereafter, beginning with the 1934 Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act, the United States generally sought trade liberalization through bilateral or multilateral tariff reductions.  To this day, the phrase “Smoot-Hawley” remains a watchword for the perils of protectionism. 

~ Office of the Historian, "Protectionism in the Interwar Period"