smoot–hawley tariff act
Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act. Hist. A 1930 protectionist statute that raised tariff rates on most articles imported into the U.S., and provoked U.S. trading partners to institute comparable tariff increases. • This Act is often cited as a factor in precipitating and spreading the Great Depression. The Act was named for the legislators who sponsored it, Senator Reed Smoot of Utah and Representative Willis C. Hawley of Oregon. It is sometimes called the Grundy Tariff for Joseph Grundy, who was president of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association and the chief lobbyist supporting the Act. — Also termed Tariff Act of 1930.
