One of the ironies of the Hawley-Smoot tariff is that it did not originate as a result of pressure from manufacturers. Instead, it originated from progressive Republicans who thought a tariff adjustment—in the vain hope of achieving “tariff equality”—would help its agricultural constituents. The tariff revision was offered by politicians rather than demanded by interest groups. However, once the door was open to changing the tariff for some groups, others—namely, small and medium-sized businesses in manufacturing, even if not suffering from increased foreign competition—were only too happy to
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