Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs mark structural shift in US trade policy

A tenuous agreement has been reached between the US and China, yet experts caution that Washington's shift towards protectionism signifies a long-lasting structural change. The onset of the Great Depression coincided with former president Herbert Hoover's enactment of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act in June 1930, which affected over 20,000 imported products, despite warnings from more than 1,000 economists. The first significant legislation after the US Constitution was the Tariff Act of 1789, known as the 'Alexander Hamilton tariff,' named after the first treasury secretary who championed duties and subsidies to support emerging industries. While the White House claims its trade policies have rejuvenated a historical economic agenda, historians and trade experts argue that the tariffs introduced during Trump's second term have had more profound effects, undermining decades of open-market practices and failing to meet the administration's own commitments.