States Tariff Research Articles

Trade Policy

Daniel Verdier. Democracy and International Trade: Britain, France, and the United States. 1860–1990 Judith Goldstein. Ideas, Interests, and American Trade Policy Alfred E. Eckes, Jr. Opening America's Market: U.S. Foreign Trade Policy since 1776 These three books should make clear the difficulty of trying to make sense of the United States's tariff policy, much less of attempting an assessment of its economic impact upon the nation. Two of the books, Judith Goldstein's Ideas, Interests, and American Trade Policy and Daniel Verdier's Democracy and International Trade: Britain, France, and the United States, 1860–1990, are by political scientists and examine trade policy in order to test a general theory of political behavior. The third, Opening America's Markets: U.S. Foreign Trade Policy since 1776, by historian Alfred E. Eckes, Jr., is a more straightforward history of American trade policy. But it is also an argument for greater American protectionism; indeed, the Wall Street Journal cited Opening America's Markets as one of the books on which 1996 Republican presidential hopeful Pat Buchanan relied most heavily in developing his protectionist agenda.1

Determinants of Industry Participation under Offshore Assembly Provisions in the United States Tariff Code

Determinants of Industry Participation under Offshore Assembly Provisions in the United States Tariff Code

Book Review: The Canadian-United States Tariff and Canadian Industry: A Multisectoral Analysis

Book Review: The Canadian-United States Tariff and Canadian Industry: A Multisectoral Analysis

The Canadian-United States Tariff and Canadian Industry: A Multisectoral Analysis

The Canadian-United States Tariff and Canadian Industry: A Multisectoral Analysis

Pressure Groups and the Pattern of Tariffs

An economic theory of the effectiveness of industrial pressure groups in obtaining favorable tariffs is developed and tested for the United States Tariff Act of 1824. Import duties bestow nonexclusive benefits on factors of production or costs on product users. From the theory of public goods, it is postulated that small, homogeneous, geographically concentrated groups would react more intensely to the expected effects of tariffs in attempting to influence the legislature. However, in Congress (where majority support was necessary) it was a disadvantage for an import duty to be identified as too local or narrow an interest. This paper attempts empirically to sort out these conflicting forces, and finds inter alia that the ideal industry pressure groups in 1824 had low proprietorial income shares and geographically concentrated production units, but that political effectiveness required the group to speak for many establishments with output spread fairly evenly across states.

The United States Tariff and Industrial Protection in the Late Nineteenth Century

M1 , - OST treatments of the U.S. tariff in the late nineteenth century have -a distinctly antiquated appearance. Very little discussion goes beyond a summary of legislative actions with some reference to Taussig's scepticism regarding significant economic effects, such as could have been written forty years ago. This conventional treatment can be summarized very briefly. Tariffs were increased during the Civil War, and although some of the increases were defended as offsets to internal taxes imposed to finance the war, they were allowed to remain even when those internal taxes were removed. There was no comprehensive revision of the tariff after the war, but in i872 a IO per cent reduction was made across the board in all tariffs. This reduction was reversed in I875, both changes being influenced most by the state of the federal budget. In i883 a comprehensive tariff Act was passed, it being generally agreed that Congress partially adopted the recommendations of a tariff commission, choosing its adoptions so as to make slight reductions in levels of protection. The i883 Act is also thought by some historians to mark the beginning of the tariff as a major issue dividing the two main political parties. After i883, tariff Acts became more frequent with the McKinley Act of I 890, the Wilson-Gorman Act of i894, and the Dingley Act of i897. The first and third of these Acts are usually thought to have overwhelmed the second to produce a general increase in the height of the U.S. system of protection. This interpretation can be traced to Taussig, and those economic historians who have gone beyond contemporary comment have usually relied on the ratio of import duties to either total or dutiable imports, although many have expressed the caution needed with such a measure of the height of protection.2 It would not be surprising if there were now increasing dissatisfaction with this literature, but such dissatisfaction as exists seems to be leading only towards a gradual discarding of the tariff question from economic history.3

The United States Tariff and Industrial Protection in the Late Nineteenth Century

The United States Tariff and Industrial Protection in the Late Nineteenth Century

The United States Tariff Structure: Estimates of Effective Rates of Protection of United States Industries of United States Industries and Industrial Labor

The United States Tariff Structure: Estimates of Effective Rates of Protection of United States Industries of United States Industries and Industrial Labor

The Beverly (Massachusetts) Historical Society

During the American Revolution, the British blockade succeeded in destroying virtually all of the Massachusetts navy, a considerable amount of the state's privateers and fishing vessels, and most of New Bedford's whaling fleet. At the end of the war, England closed her own ports, as well as those of her West Indian possessions, to American trade France and Spain similarly forbade American commerce with their West Indian colonies. In addition, the former American colonies themselves imposed state tariffs that discouraged coastwise trade.

Labor and the Theory of the Mexican Revolution under Lázaro Cárdenas

Since Mexico now seems to be the key nation in Latin America in the implementation of President Kennedy's Alliance for Progress, it becomes even more pressing that we in the United States understand the nature of the Mexican social order. As a point of departure for this effort, one might well begin by considering the basis for contemporary industrial and political development of Mexico as formulated in the years 1934-1940 under Mexico'sNew Dealof Lázaro Cárdenas. Sanford Mosk noted, “… what went on during the time of Cárdenas has had an indirect effect on the subsequent industrial development.” Or, as the United States Tariff Commission claimed, the reorientation of Mexico's economic and social policy has been an important part of her political life since 1910. The new program was given impetus by the Constitution of 1917, which contained important provisions for agrarian reform and for the protection of labor. Yet, aggressive implementation of the new policy began under president Lazaro Cardenas with the inauguration of the Six-Year Plan in 1934.

THE ATLANTIC MIGRATION OF THE POTTERY INDUSTRY

political animosities, remained for much of the nineteenth century on terms of greater intimacy than any two other sovereign States. The economic basis of that intimacy was a complementarity which ensured that the two countries should be each other's best customer. This was not a simple exchange of raw materials for manufactures between two closed economies, governed by the laws of international trade. Contemporaries as different as Mill and Marx saw it as a matter of inter-regional relations within one single economy, embracing the entire Atlantic region, and dominated by the relations of a 'metropolitan' unit, Britain, and a 'colonial' unit, North America, chiefly the United States.' The key to the growth of the Atlantic economy lay in conditions which permitted a high degree not only of trade but of movement for capital and labour westwards across the Atlantic into more profitable relations with markets and natural resources. A neglected aspect of this topic is the migration from Britain of industrial labour which not only provided the great bulk of British immigration into the United States - in i890, 63 per cent of Britishborn were employed in American industry - but represented far and away the most important element of technical skill in American industrialization. By looking more closely at the role of the emigrant technician we may be able to see more clearly the true nature of American industrialization within the Atlantic economy. Much research must still be done before the significance of industrial migration for Atlantic history may be assessed. However, pioneer work, such as that of Professor Herbert Heaton and Dr. R. T. Berthoff, encourages a more systematic investigation of particular industries.2 Evidence salted away in industrial studies, in county histories, in the early reports of the State Bureaux of Labor and in the United States Tariff, Industrial and Immigration Commissions, suggests a pattern of experience common to the major industries involved. Taking three of the most formative industries, textiles, mining and iron and steel, one may discern several successive phases. First, there is what might be called the migration of creative innovators, the Slaters, Scholfields, Thomas's, Firmstones, and Crowthers, the first generation of Cornish mine captains, of Scottish coal miners: these were the carriers of the new technology who made it effective in the new environment: and although their influence varied industry by industry some achieved the status of entrepreneur or at least of manager. Secondly, close on their heels came the scores and hundreds of skilled operatives who were to provide the essential cadre of mule spinners, machine makers, foundrymen and miners, some seasonal migrants only, most settling into communities of British folkways and craft loyalties, and, more 1 For this hypothesis see Brinley Thomas, Migration and Economic Growth: A Study of Great Britain and the Atlantic Economy (Cambridge, i954), and Frank Thistlethwaite, 'Atlantic Partner

Organization for European Economic Cooperation

In February 1950 the annual report of the Organization for European Economic Cooperation was presented to the United States Economic Cooperation Administration. The report stated that future progress of European recovery would depend to a large extent upon the level of economic activity in the United States, upon United States tariff policy; and upon international investments made by the United States. The forecasts of European trade were based on the assumption that United States business activity would remain at least as high as in the second and third quarter of 1949; it was pointed out that even small setbacks in the United States economy would have disproportionately large consequences for western Europe whose reserves were not great enough to stand much strain. The report insisted that what remained to be done to solve the dollar problem was not a task for Europe alone but was rather a “joint problem.” Western Europe's dollar deficit could not be eliminated unless its exports to the United States amounted to 75 percent of its imports in value. It was necessary that the emphasis shift from the expansion of total production to the development of dollar earning and dollar saving types of production, as well as a reduction in costs. Inflationary pressure had been greatly relieved but nearly all the Marshall Plan countries were still suffering from some inflationary pressure which tended to reduce their exports and increase their imports. This pressure was likely to continue unless a world depression developed.

Edward P. Costigan and the Tariff Commission, 1917-1928

EDWARD P. COSTIGAN'S resignation from the United States Tariff Commission in 1928, after eleven years of faithful service on that body, was accompanied by a public remonstrance against alleged violations of law in the administration of the commission and misconduct in office by the of the United States. The Nation, weekly journal of opinion, quickly took up the cry and devoted a full page to President Coolidge's Misfeasance. According to the Nation, Costigan had presented specific and convincing evidence in support of his charges that the had (1) packed the Tariff Commission by appointing to it and retaining on it utterly unworthy men; (2) overruled its recommendations, because of political pressure brought to bear upon him by those who line their pockets through unjustifiably high tariffs; (3) subverted the purpose of Congress when it established the commission and kept it from becoming the scientific control valve it was intended to be and instead made it a

Tertiary Production as a Postwar International Economic Problem

IT might at first seem a little odd that there should be any hesitation or embarrassment in suggesting to academic colleagues in another country advisability of investigations, which might ultimately issue in practical action, along lines rather different from those which on their own initiative they seem disposed to pursue. But there is one important sector of economic analysis, of far-reaching general interest, which has hitherto been largely neglected and which it is now peculiarly appropriate to press upon attention of American economists. And it also happens'that effective action in this sector would make much easier at least a partial solution of other problems which have been mentioned and of whose pressing importance we are all so painfully aware, while it is without any doubt within setting of American economy that a scientific examination of this sector could now most hopefully be undertaken. Let us suppose that by some miraculous accident we had an absolutely free hand to determine critical point within American economy upon which in immediate future whole resources of creative thought of that country were to be directed. In such unexpected and highly improbable circumstances what should our decision be? Many would undoubtedly vote for a still closer concentration of attention upon techniques of full employment, while others would urge a still more penetrating study of significance of United States commercial policy for establishment and maintenance of world equilibrium. A plausible case could, however, be made out for view that problem which now most urgently calls for attention and solution of which would incidentally go far to meet requirements of those who are most concerned to see effective action taken in regard to these two obvious great outstanding isues is to be found in a field to Which so far little more than passing notice is usually given, a field, moreover, which at first sight might appear exclusively, or at least mainly, one of merely domestic concern. The general principle of international economic interdependence is now a commonplace, though its formal acceptance is still no guarantee that concrete policy will not in certain important respects be based upon deeplyrooted prejudice that it may be dangerous to allow peoples of other countries to become prosperous, especially if their prosperity seems dependent upon expansion of lines of production in which we ourselves already have a lively concern. To maintain national product at a level commensurate with our capacity to produce, it has been said, the American people will have to advance their standard of living as a whole by somewhere around 50 per cent. 1 And it is most direct and immediate interest of people of other countries that this unique objective should be realized with minimum of friction and delay. Its expeditious attainment will not, indeed, by itself either afford complete protection against risks of violent employment fluctuations in United States, prospect of whose repercussions elsewhere frequently cause so much alarm, or guarantee a speedy reorientation of United States tariff policy. Probably, it is in nature of things that yearnings for complete protection must always be disappointed, but if United States succeeds in reaching high standards of living postulated, employment fluctuations will probably be less violent than they might otherwise be; and even if awkward fluctuations persist, shifts of national income above and below a highlevel may still permit a demand for exports of other countries sufficiently great to prevent repercussions elsewhere from being overwhelmingly embarrassing. The vested interests which

REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:Tasmcmian Income Tax Statistics 1940‐41 and 1941‐42. Study No. 17 of the Tasmanian State Finance Committee.British Taxation. By G. F. Shirras and L. BostasGovernment Spending and Economic Expansion. By Arthur E. Burns and, Donald S. “Watson.Wartime Price Control. By George P. Adams, Jnr.Wartime Control in New Zealand. By H. L. Wise.Wartime Rationing and Consumption.War and Post‐War Social Security. By “Wilbur Cohen (Ed.) and others.War and Peace in the Pacific. (The Institute of Pacific Relations, New York, 1943.).Wartime Transference of Labour in Great Britain.Year Book of Labour Statistics, 1942.A Short History of Labour Conditions under Industrial Capitalism, Vol. I–Great Britain and the Empire, 1750 to the Present Day. By Jürgen Kuczynski.Unpaid Labour or Controlled Dynamics t A Contribution to the Problem of Unemployment. By Beda “Wiesner.The Development of Labour Relations Law. By Wayne Leslie McNaughton.Economic Papers No. 2: N.S.W. Branch of Economic Society of Australia and New Zealand: “Canadian ‐ American Relations” by R. P. Bower, and “The Economics of Lend‐Lease” by Alden 6.Money and Banking, 1940‐42.Credit Control. By Helen Josephine Mellon.Eleventh and Twelfth Annual Reports of the Bank of International Settlements, Basle. 1st April, 1940‐31st March, 1942.Social Insurance and Allied Services. Report by Sir William Beveridge.The Foreign Trade of Latin America: (United States Tariff Commission, Report No. 146, Second Series). Part I Trade of Latin America viith the World and with the United States.The Spirit of the Age. By John Stuart Mill, with an introductory Essay by A. von Hayek.Two Manuscripts. By Charles Davenant.Make or Buy. By J. “W. Culliton.The Theory of Interest. By S. Lakshminarasimhan.An Essay on the Nature and Purpose of Economic Activity. By V. K. R. V. Rao.Soviet Planning and Labour in Peace and War. Four Studies by Maurice Dobb.The Socialist Order and Freedom: By Bruce “Williams”.Modern Commercial Policy. By R. D. Tiwari.International Agreements on Conservation of Marine Resources. With special reference to the North Pacific. By Jozo Tomasevich.The Population of Bristol. By H. A. Shannon and E. Grebenik.The Making of Modern New Guinea. By Stephen Winsor Reed.Fiji: Little India of the Pacific. By John “Wesley Coulter.

A STUDY OF THE PROMISCUOUS USE OF THE BARBITURATES

At a meeting of the American Medical Association in June 1937 a resolution was introduced on the Evils from Promiscuous Use of Barbituric Acid and Derivative Drugs, in which was included the following statement: evils of these drugs include habit formations, toxic cumulative action, their substitution for alcoholic beverages for drunken episodes, their use for successful as well as unsuccessful suicidal attempts, their improper use being a recognized causative factor in many motor accidents and their improper use being a recognized etiologic factor in some criminal assaults.... The widespread use of barbiturates is illustrated in table 1 by statistics of the manufacture and sale of the drugs in this country for 1936 compiled by the United States Tariff Commission. These figures were made available through President H. G. Bertram of the Winthrop Chemical Company, in whose opinion, because of the high United States duty, sales may be considered practically

REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article: Three Studies on the National Income By A. L. Bowley and Sir Josiah Stamp. The Economic Development of Modern Egypt By A. E. Crouchley. Sugar: a Case Study of Government Control By John E. Dalton. Dare We Look Ahead? The Fabian Lectures for 1937. Konzerne und Kartelle im, Zeichen der Wirtschaftslenkung Verlag fur Recht and Gesellschaft. By Dr Fritz Haussmann. International Trade By Hugh B. Killough. Economics of Transportation By D. Philip Locklin. Three Lectures on Commerce and One on Absenteeism By Mountifort Longfield, LL.D. (1835) 1937. Consumers' Credits and Unemployment By J. E. Meade. To‐morrow's War: Its Planning, Management and Coat By Stephen Th Possony. Economic Problems of the Next War By Paul Einzig. Statistical Year Book of Southern Rhodesia, 1938 The Official Annual of the Social and Economic Conditions of the Colony. Iron and Steel Report No. 128. Second Series by the United States Tariff Commission. A Survey of the Iron and Steel Industries and International Trade of the Principal Producing and Trading Countries with Particuar Reference to Factors Essential to Tariff Considerations.

UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION. The Tariff: A Bibliography. Pp. ix, 980. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1934. $1.00 (paper covers)

UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION. The Tariff: A Bibliography. Pp. ix, 980. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1934. $1.00 (paper covers)

South American Opposition to United States Tariff Policy

South American Opposition to United States Tariff Policy

The Irish Free State Tariff on Footwear

The Irish Free State Tariff on Footwear