A more accurate measure of the increase in tariff rates attributable to Smoot-Hawley can be found in a study carried out by the U.S. Tariff Commission. This study calculated the ad valorem rates that would have prevailed on actual U.S. imports in 1928, if the Smoot-Hawley rates been in effect then. These rates were compared with the rates prevailing under the Tariff Act of 1922, known as the Fordney-McCumber Tariff. The results are reproduced in Table 1 for the broad product categories used in tariff schedules and for total dutiable imports.
Table 1
Tariffs Rates under Fordney-McCumber vs. Smoot-Hawley
Equivalent ad valorem rates
Product................Fordney-McCumber.......Smoot-Hawley
Chemicals...........................29.72%................36.09%
Earthenware and Glass.......48.71...................53.73
Metals..................................33.95..................35.08
Wood...................................24.78..................11.73
Sugar...................................67.85...................77.21
Tobacco...............................63.09...................64.78
Agricultural Products..........22.71..................35.07
Spirits and Wines................38.83.................. 47.44
Cotton Manufactures...........40.27..................46.42
Flax, Hemp, and Jute...........18.16..................19.14
Wool and Manufactures.......49.54..................59.83
Silk Manufactures................56.56..................59.13
Rayon Manufactures............52.33..................53.62
Paper and Books..................24.74..................26.06
Sundries...............................36.97................. 28.45
Total.....................................38.48................. 41.14
Source: U.S. Tariff Commission, The Tariff Review, July 1930, Table II, p. 196.
By this measure, Smoot-Hawley raised average tariff rates by about 2 ½ percentage points from the already high rates prevailing under the Fordney-McCumber Tariff of 1922.
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