Trump says high tariffs could have prevented the Great Depression but history shows Smoot-Hawley made a bad situation much worse

Quick Summary:

The U.S.economy plunged deeper into a devastating financial crisis that it would not pull out of until World War II.

But we’ve gotten rid of them because, as the country at the cutting edge of technology, we didn’t think they were useful.“When we were at our most powerful, right after World War II, we forced a low tariff regime on most of the world because we thought it was to our benefit," said Richardson, also a former Federal Reserve System historian.

America’s history of high tariffs actually continued well after 1913, however, and Trump’s take on what sparked the Great Depression — and Hoover-era Washington's response to it — don't reflect what actually happened.

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Article Details

Author / Journalist: Will Weissert, The Associated Press

Category: EconomyBusiness

Markets: United States

Topics: Great Depression Tariffs Tariffs and trade Donald Trump Depression

Source Website Secure: Yes (HTTPS)

News Sentiment: Negative

Fact Checked: Legitimate

Article Type: News Report

Published On: 2025-04-08 @ 08:47:50 (1 weeks ago)

News Timezone: GMT +8:00

News Source URL: fortune.com

Language: English

Article Length: 1523 words

Reading Time: 9 minutes read

Sentences: 4 lines

Sentence Length: 381 words per sentence (average)

Platforms: Desktop Web, Mobile Web, iOS App, Android App

Copyright Owner: © Fortune

News ID: 27717922

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