What was the smoot hawley act all about?
The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act (sometimes known as the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act; officially the Tariff Act of 1930) was an act signed into law on June 17, 1930, that raised U.S. tariffs on over 20,000 imported goods to record levels. In the United States 1,028 economists signed a petition against this legislation, and after it was passed, many countries retaliated with their own increased tariffs on U.S. goods, and American exports and imports were reduced by more than half. Although rated capacity had increased tremendously, actual output, income, and expenditure had not. By direction of Republican Senator Reed Smoot of Utah, the party had drafted the Fordney-McCumber tariff act in 1922 which increased tariffs with the purpose of increasing domestic firms’ market share. Weakening labor markets during 1927 and 1928 prompted Smoot to propose yet another tariff increase. In his memoirs, Smoot made it clear: “The world is paying for its ruthless destruction of life and property in the World W
