But what does history show us? The last time the U.S. introduced sweeping taxes on imports was in 1930s Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, which raised tariffs on thousands of goods to historically high levels.

Herbert Hoover signed the retaliatory Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 ... depression in American history. Jingoistic political movements have long argued that the U.S. has been taken advantage ...

Among the most infamous examples is the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 ... of the Great Depression remind us that isolationism rarely leads to prosperity. While safeguarding domestic industries is a ...