Free Republic

Tuesday, July 16, 2002 Calhoun's Cause: Free Trade by Thomas J. DiLorenzo[Posted July 15, 2002]In The Essential Calhoun (TEC), editor Clyde Wilson commented that "it is curious how ignorant contemporary advocates of free markets are of tariff struggles in nineteenth-century America." There is much truth in this statement, since most advocates of free markets seem to be more interested in pure economic theory than in history. Understanding the momentous political struggles over tariffs in 19th-century America can greatly improve our understanding of free trade in particular and of American economic history in general--especially the history of the War Between the...

On March 27, the European Union imposed its own safeguard tariffs on steel imports in reaction to those imposed earlier in the month by President George W. Bush. The EU duties range from 14.9 to 26 percent on 15 categories of imports compared with U.S. duties ranging from 15 to 30 percent. The EU can thus claim to have imposed lower tariffs while still achieving the same effect. Both EU and U.S. steel tariffs are designed to block import surges from troubled steel exporters in Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe rather than from each other. The EU is planning...