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, […]