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Trade Wars: Canada's Reaction to the Smoot-Hawley Tariff

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  • McDonald, Judith A.
  • O'Brien, Anthony Patrick
  • Callahan, Colleen M.

Abstract

Strange as it seems, the infamous Smoot-Hawley Tariff might have had an expansionary effect on the U.S. economy. Basic macroeconomic principles indicate that the direct effect of a tariff increase is expansionary. This expansionary effect might be offset by retaliatory increases in foreign tariffs. Barry Eichengreen has recently questioned whether significant retaliation to Smoot-Hawley occurred. This article demonstrates that the tariff increases enacted during 1930 in Canada—the largest trading partner of the United States—were in direct response to Smoot-Hawley. The conventional wisdom that Smoot-Hawley hurt the U.S. economy may be right after all.

Suggested Citation

  • McDonald, Judith A. & O'Brien, Anthony Patrick & Callahan, Colleen M., 1997. "Trade Wars: Canada's Reaction to the Smoot-Hawley Tariff," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 57(4), pages 802-826, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:57:y:1997:i:04:p:802-826_01
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    Cited by:

    1. Mario J. Crucini & James Kahn, 2003. "Tariffs and the Great Depression Revisited," Vanderbilt University Department of Economics Working Papers 0316, Vanderbilt University Department of Economics.
    2. Benjamin H. Liebman & Kasaundra M. Tomlin, 2008. "Safeguards and Retaliatory Threats," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 51(2), pages 351-376, May.
    3. Ang, James & Wang, Jingfang, 2023. "The trade war's impact on the financial market: Observations from the historical global trade war - the Smoot Hawley Tariff Act," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    4. James MacGee & Chris Hajzler, 2012. "Retail Price Differences across U.S. and Canadian Cities during the Interwar Period," 2012 Meeting Papers 1126, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    5. Kris James Mitchener & Kevin Hjortshøj O'Rourke & Kirsten Wandschneider, 2022. "The Smoot-Hawley Trade War," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(647), pages 2500-2533.
    6. David S. Jacks, 2011. "Defying Gravity: The 1932 Imperial Economic Conference and the Reorientation of Canadian Trade," NBER Working Papers 17242, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Jacks, David S., 2014. "Defying gravity: The Imperial Economic Conference and the reorientation of Canadian trade," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 19-39.
    8. Eichengreen, Barry & Irwin, Douglas A., 2010. "The Slide to Protectionism in the Great Depression: Who Succumbed and Why?," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 70(4), pages 871-897, December.
    9. Kris James Mitchener Author e-mail: kmitchener@scu.edu & Kirsten Wandschneider Author e-mail: kirsten.wandschneider@univie.ac.at & Kevin Hjortshøj O’Rourke Author e-mail: akevin.orourke@nyu.edu, 2021. "The Smoot-Hawley Trade War," Working Papers 20210061, New York University Abu Dhabi, Department of Social Science, revised Mar 2021.

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