The Late Nineteenth Century The United States Trade Policy Research

Trade policy plays a very important role in American history. It nearly runs through the history of American foreign economic relations. This dissertation deals with the development of American protective trade policy which characterized by high duties at the end of nineteenth century. It has four parts:Chapter one is a brief introduction of American protective trade policy from 1789 to 1879. The policy can be divided into three periods, the first one is from 1789 to 1815, the main purpose of American trade policy was to make revenue, so duties were comparatively low. The second one is from 1816 to 1860, the North with protective ideas met the South with free trade ideas, and the duties were high at first, and then low under the influence of the South. The third one is from 1861 to 1879, the high duties during the Civil War was continued after the war.Chapter two describes the reform of the War Time Duty by the Democrats, and the establishment of high protective duties. The Democrats struggled for a low tariff, while the Republicans against it. The Tariff Act of 1883 was the first revision of the War Time Duty. After that, the Democrats proposed several bills to revise the high duty, but finally failed. With the Republicans won the election of 1888, they controlled the Congress to raise the rates. The McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 set the highest duty since 1789, and it marked the period of high duties come closer.Chapter three presents the continuation of high protective duties. The Democrats won the election of 1892. With the control of the Congress, they reduced the tariff rates in the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act of 1894. But soon, the Republicans won the election of 1896; they made a duty of 57% on dutiable goods, which is the highest duty in the nineteenth century. The protective trade policy was continued in the 20th century.The reason why the high protective trade policy was established in the nineteenth century is analyzed in the last chapter. The domestic factors as well as international factors contributed to the establishment. Some influences of American protective trade policy were also discussed in this chapter.