The Smoot-Hawley Trade War

A-Tier
Journal: Economic Journal
Year: 2022
Volume: 132
Issue: 647
Pages: 2500-2533

Score contribution per author:

1.341 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We document the outbreak of a trade war after the United States adopted the Smoot-Hawley tariff in June 1930. U.S. trade partners initially protested, with many eventually choosing to retaliate with tariffs. Using a new quarterly dataset on bilateral trade for ninety-nine countries, we show that U.S. exports to retaliators fell by 28%–32%. Using a second new dataset on U.S. exports at the product level, we find that the most important U.S. exports to retaliating markets were particularly affected, suggesting a possible mechanism whereby the United States was targeted despite most-favoured-nation obligations. The retaliators’ welfare gains from trade fell by 8%–16%.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:oup:econjl:v:132:y:2022:i:647:p:2500-2533.
Journal Field
General
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-26