Question

How did the Hawley Smoot Tariff damage the U.S. economy?

Answer 1

Hint: Enacted in June 1930, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act added about 20 percent to the already high import duties in the United States on imported agricultural products and manufactured goods.
The Fordney-McCumber Act, a law passed in 1922, increased the average import tax on imported products to around 40 percent.

Complete answer:
With the objective of protecting American farmers and other industries from foreign competition, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 raised U.S. import duties. The act is now widely blamed in the U.S. and around the world for worsening the severity of the Great Depression.

The Act and tariffs imposed in retaliation by America's trading partners were major factors in the Depression's 67 percent reduction in American exports and imports.
As angry European countries imposed a tax on American goods that made them too expensive to buy in Europe and limited trade that led to the economic crisis of the Great Depression, the Hawley Smoot Tariff seriously backfired.
Other countries responded to U.S. tariffs by imposing restrictions on international trade, which made it more difficult for the U.S. to pull itself out of its depression.
Imports become largely inexpensive, and individuals who have lost their jobs can only afford to buy domestic products.

Note: Economists today differ on the extent to which the Great Depression was aggravated by the Smoot-Hawley Act. Some say that because international trade was then a relatively minor part of the U.S. economy, its impact was minimal.
The formal U.S. The Senate website refers to Smoot-Hawley as "among the most catastrophic acts in congressional history."