Cohen Discusses How the US Has Used Tariffs Throughout History in CNBC Article

February 10, 2025

CNBC

Andrew Wender Cohen

History Department

Campbell Public Affairs Institute

Federal

International Affairs

Taxation

Trade

United States

CNBC

Andrew Wender Cohen

The U.S. has used tariffs since its founding in the 18th century, primarily as a way to raise revenue in the nation's early days, then later to restrict imports or as a bargaining chip to reduce trade barriers.

Before 1934, Congress—not presidents—had power over tariff rates and negotiations, says Andrew Wender Cohen, professor of history.

But Democrats—then known as the political party of free trade—had an enormous majority around the New Deal era and passed the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act of 1934, granting the president the right to negotiate tariffs in certain cases, Cohen says.

“That’s when the president gains a much more substantial authority,” says Cohen. That power accelerated after 1948 during the “transformation of the whole global economic order.”

Trump’s use of tariff policy is “very unusual” among modern U.S. presidents, Cohen says.