TY  - JOUR
AU  - Irwin,Douglas A.
TI  - Changes in U.S. Tariffs: Prices or Policies?
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 5665
PY  - 1996
Y2  - July 1996
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w5665
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w5665.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Douglas A. Irwin
Department of Economics
Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH  03755
Tel: 603/646-2942
Fax: 603/646-2122
E-Mail: douglas.irwin@dartmouth.edu
AB  - In the century after the Civil War, roughly two-thirds of U.S. dutiable imports were subject to specific duties whose ad valorem equivalent was inversely related to the price level.  This paper finds that import price fluctuations easily dominate commercial policies (changes in rates of import duty) in bringing about changes in the average U.S. tariff from 1865-1973.  About three-quarters of the post-Smoot Hawley decline in U.S. tariffs, for example, can be attributed to higher import prices, the remainder to negotiated reductions in tariff rates.
ER  -