Clashing Over Commerce: A History of US Trade Policy (Markets and Governments in Economic History)

by Douglas A. Irwin

Hull (1948, 357) later contended that “in both House and Senate we were aided by the severe reaction of public opinion against the Smoot-Hawley Act.” In fact, the passage of the RTAA simply reflected the massive change in the partisan composition of Congress, with Democrats replacing Republicans. After examining the votes of all members of Congress who voted on both Hawley-Smoot and the RTAA, Schnietz (2000) clearly shows that Congress did not “change its mind” about the wisdom of the Hawley-Smoot tariff. That would imply that members who voted for Hawley-Smoot later regretted its consequences and voted for the RTAA. Of the ninety-five members of Congress who voted in favor of Hawley-Smoot, only nine voted in favor of the RTAA. Of those nine, seven were Democrats; only two of eighty-six Republicans changed their view.