| Year | Name | Description |
| 1789 | Tariff of 1789 | Primarily for revenue; some protection for “infant industries;” (Washington administration). |
| 1816 | Tariff of 1816 | First protective tariff; Clay and Calhoun supported as part of American System; Southern cotton growers opposed; (Madison administration). |
| 1824 | Tariff of 1824 | Further heightening of rates; growing opposition from South; (Monroe administration). |
| 1828 | “Tariff of Abominations” | Higher protective measures for New England mills; Southerners outraged, including Calhoun; (J.Q. Adams administration). |
| 1832 | Tariff of 1832 | Moderate reform returned rates to 1824 levels; unmoved South Carolina sparked Nullification Crisis; (Jackson administration). |
| 1833 | Tariff of 1833 | Clay compromise; gradual reduction of rates over time to 1816 levels; New England states opposed; (Jackson administration). |
| 1842 | Tariff of 1842 | Upward revision forced by depression following Panic of 1837; (Tyler administration). |
| 1846 | Walker Tariff | Democrats controlled Congress; West supported tariff reduction in hope of selling grain abroad; move toward tariff for revenue only; (Polk administration). |
| 1857 | Tariff of 1857 | Downward tariff revision to almost free trade status; North opposed; (Buchanan administration). |
| 1861- 1865 | Wartime tariff acts | Steadily increased protectionism to help fund Union war costs; South not represented in Congress during Civil War; (Buchanan and Lincoln administrations). |
| 1872 | Tariff of 1872 | Post-war reform tariff, reduced rates on some manufactured goods; (Grant administration). |
| 1875 | Tariff of 1875 | Continued downward revision; average rates reduced by 10 percent; (Grant administration). |
| 1883 | “Mongrel” Tariff | Republicans abandoned reform; compromise satisfied no one; (Arthur administration). |
| 1890 | McKinley Tariff | Highest protective tariff to date: average 48 percent; (B. Harrison administration). |
| 1894 | Wilson-Gorman Tariff | Reform measure crippled by Senate amendments; (Cleveland 2nd administration). |
| 1897 | Dingley Tariff | Blatantly protective measure; some rates at 57 percent; (McKinley administration). |
| 1909 | Payne-Aldrich Tariff | Attempt to lower average level of duties; little meaningful reform; Progressives angered; (Taft administration). |
| 1913 | Underwood-Simmons Tariff | Democrats took control of Congress; general duty reduction soon negated by outbreak of World War I; federal income tax provision; (Wilson administration). |
| 1921 | Emergency Tariff | Republicans returned to power and responded to mini-depression; raised agricultural rates to protect farmers; only a stopgap measure until new law written; (Harding administration). |
| 1922 | Fordney-McCumber Tariff | Increased rates sharply; president empowered to adjust rates; Tariff Commission created to advise president; (Harding administration). |
| 1930 | Smoot-Hawley Tariff | Raised U.S. duties to an all-time high; 1,000 economists protested; foreign retaliation; (Hoover administration). |
| 1934 | Hull Trade Pacts | Reciprocal treaties to reduce tariffs and stimulate trade during depression; (F. Roosevelt administration). |
| 1948 | General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) | United Nations organization created to seek tariff reductions. |
| 1962 | Trade Expansion Act | President received authority to negotiate tariff reductions up to 50 percent; aimed primarily at European Economic Community (later European Union); (Kennedy administration). |
| 1963- 1967 | “Kennedy Round” | GATT talks aimed at tariff reduction, primarily with Western Europe; approximate 33 percent reductions; (L. Johnson administration). |
| 1973- 1979 | “Tokyo Round” | GATT talks aimed at non-tariff trade barriers; included non-GATT members; (Nixon administration). |
| 1974 | Trade Act of 1974 | President given authority to end tariff duties against products from developing nations; (Ford administration). |
| 1993 | North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) | U.S., Canada and Mexico end most trade barriers; (Clinton administration). |
| 1994 | GATT/WTO | New GATT agreement signed; World Trade Organization (WTO) formed; (Clinton administration). |
