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Why was the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act passed in 1930?

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A long line of unemployed men in coats and hats stands outside a soup kitchen in Chicago, with a storefront sign reading Free Soup, Coffee and Doughnuts for the Unemployed. — Great Depression Unemployed men standing in line outside a soup kitchen, Chicago.

The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act was passed in 1930 primarily to protect American farmers and businesses from foreign competition during the Great Depression.1

Following World War I, American farmers faced declining prices and intense competition due to overproduction and the recovery of European agriculture. During his 1928 presidential campaign, Herbert Hoover promised to increase tariffs on agricultural goods to provide relief. Once in office, this effort expanded as lobbyists from other economic sectors successfully pushed for broader protectionist measures.1

While initial attempts to raise duties failed in 1929 due to opposition in the U.S. Senate, the stock market crash of 1929 shifted the political climate. Protectionism gained significant momentum, leading to the bill's narrow passage in the Senate and its subsequent signing into law on June 17, 1930. Despite warnings from over 1,000 economists who urged a veto, the act was enacted, ultimately worsening the global economic crisis through retaliatory trade policies.1