Source: Libertarian Institute
by Joseph Solis-Mullen
“The current direction of U.S. trade policy marks a dramatic departure from over two centuries of debate, experimentation, and eventual liberalization. As shown in the chart below, U.S. average tariff rates were historically high throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, peaking during periods like the Tariff of Abominations (1828), the Morrill Tariff (1861), and the Smoot-Hawley Tariff (1930). Since the mid-twentieth century, however, trade liberalization has steadily brought these rates down. Does anyone actually believe that the lives of Americans since World War II have been in some sort of material decline due to increasing global trade? All the evidence says the exact opposite.” (04/08/25)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/trumps-tariffs-are-economic-folly-top-to-bottom