Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act

Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act, law passed by the U.S. Congress in 1909 in response to a call from Republican Pres. William Howard Taft for lower tariffs. His acceptance of a bill that failed to significantly decrease rates caused him to lose the support of the progressive wing of his party. The Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act dropped rates in general only by about 5 percent, and it raised rates on such items as iron ore and coal.

From the beginning, tariffs were an important part of economic policy in the United States, as they initially provided the bulk of government revenue and protected American manufacturing. However, as the country’s economy grew, the usefulness of such taxes was questioned. While the industrialized North favoured protectionist policies, those in the agrarian South criticized the levies for raising the price of imports on which farmers depended. In addition, by the late 1880s tariffs were seen by some as contributing to the growth of monopolies. Over the ensuing decades, they became a source of great debate in American politics.

By the time of the presidential election of 1908, a wave of social and economic progressivism had grown within the Republican Party, which had traditionally favoured high tariffs. Taft, a progressive Republican, campaigned on tariff reform and won the election. In his inaugural address in 1909, he declared that he would veto any tariff bill that did not lower rates. The House of Representatives began writing the legislation, and Sereno Payne of New York, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee,introduced a bill that called for reductions. However, other members of the House revised the law to increase rates favoured by businesses within their districts. In the Senate, Nelson Aldrich of Rhode Island, head of the Finance Committee and a dedicated protectionist, made numerous additional changes to the bill, raising hundreds of rates. The legislation passed without the support of the vast majority of Democrats or of the progressive Republicans. Taft signed the bill into law and later praised it as “the best tariff bill the Republican Party ever passed.” It lowered rates on 650 items, raised rates on 220, and made no change on 1,150. It also included a corporate tax and provided for a commission to study rates and recommend changes.

Because the act decreased rates only slightly, progressive Republicans broke with Taft and tried to prevent him from being nominated in the election of 1912. When they failed, they left the Republican Party and formed the Bull Moose Party, with Theodore Roosevelt as their candidate. Both parties were defeated by the Democrats, and shortly after Woodrow Wilson took office in 1913, Congress passed a bill lowering the overall tariff rate to 27 percent.