The President's Rotten Record on Trade

Why George W. Bush is the most protectionist president since Herbert Hoover

Bruce Bartlett | June 1, 2006

p class="Flargetext-1stpgph c2"> span class="c1">Herbert Hoover is rightly reviled for having the worst record on international trade of any president. The Smoot-Hawley Tariff, which Hoover signed into law in 1930 after a Republican Congress passed it, was a significant factor in deepening the Great Depression. Since then, every president has embraced at least the rhetoric of free trade. But actions and rhetoric are different things, and George W. Bush in particular has preached free trade while advancing the agenda of a petty protectionist. o:p> /o:p> /span> /p> p class="Flargetext c4"> span class="c3"> o:p> /o:p> /span> /p> p class="Flargetext c4"> span class="c3">In so doing, he’s returning his party to its roots. From Lincoln through Hoover, a high tariff on imported manufactured goods was the foundation of Republican trade policy. The Democrats, as the party of the workingman, backed free trade. They understood that tariffs raised the prices of goods, fattened the profits of politically connected businessmen, and acted like a tax on the poor. o:p>