You're right, tariffs are the stupidest thing in the world.
All they acomplish is not letting individuals and businesses get a superior product at a better price.
Quite the contrary, every piece of evidence we have is that PROTECTED goods are the least competitive, worst goods. American steel did not get competitive, under Carnegie, until the tariffs were gone. Chrysler---now there is a real success story with tariffs. Remember the K-car? Harley Davidson is a somewhat different example, but it hardly is anything more than a niche product.
Nope, tariffs always were, and always will be, bad. Hamilton was right on a great many things, but not these.