The Walker Tariff was a set of tariff rates adopted by the United States in 1846. Enacted by the Democrats, it made substantial cuts in the high rates of the "

Black Tariff The Tariff of 1842, or Black Tariff as it became known, was a protectionist tariff schedule adopted in the United States. It reversed the effects of the Compromise Tariff of 1833, which contained a provision that successively lowered the tariff ...

" of 1842, enacted by the Whigs. It was based on a report by Secretary of the Treasury

Robert J. Walker Robert John Walker (July 19, 1801November 11, 1869) was an American lawyer, economist and politician. An active member of the Democratic Party, he served as a member of the U.S. Senate from Mississippi from 1835 until 1845, as Secretary of the ...

. The Walker Tariff reduced tariff rates from 32% to 25%. Coinciding with Britain's repeal of the Corn Laws, it led to an increase in trade and was one of the lowest tariffs in American history.

Adoption

Democrat James Polk was elected President in 1844 over

Henry Clay Henry Clay Sr. (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American attorney and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. He was the seventh House speaker as well as the ninth secretary of state, al ...

, a Whig who advocated a high tariff. President Polk declared that reduction of the "Black Tariff" would be the first of the "four great measures" that would define his administration. He directed Walker to work out the details. In 1846, Polk delivered Walker's tariff proposal to Congress. Walker urged its adoption to increase commerce between the US and Britain. He also predicted that a reduction in tariff rates would stimulate trade, including imports. The result, asserted Walker, would be a net increase in customs revenue, despite the reduced rates. Congress, then controlled by Democrats, acted quickly on Walker's recommendations. Southern Democrats, who had little industry in their states, were especially supportive. The Walker Tariff produced the nation's first standardized tariff: rather than setting fixed rates for specific items on a case-by-case basis, it established general schedules into which all goods could be classified, subject to defined ad valorem rates. The bill reduced rates across the board on most major import items save

luxury goods In economics, a luxury good (or upmarket good) is a good for which demand increases more than what is proportional as income rises, so that expenditures on the good become a greater proportion of overall spending. Luxury goods are in contrast to n ...

, such as tobacco and

alcoholic beverage An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol that acts as a drug and is produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. The c ...

Impact

The bill made moderate reductions in many tariff rates. As Walker had predicted, trade increased substantially, and net revenue collected also increased, from $30 million annually under the Black Tariff in 1845 to almost $45 million annually by 1850. It also improved relations with Britain that had soured over the Oregon boundary dispute. It was passed along with a series of financial reforms proposed by Walker including the

Warehousing Act {{Unreferenced, date=December 2009 The Warehousing Act of 1846 was a commercial law that allowed merchants to warehouse their imports into the United States and thus delay tariff payments on those goods until a buyer was found. It established the ...

of 1846. The 1846 tariff rates initiated a fourteen-year period of relative free trade by nineteenth century standards lasting until the high Morrill Tariff of 1861. The Walker Tariff remained in effect until the

Tariff of 1857 The Tariff of 1857 was a major tax reduction in the United States that amended the Walker Tariff of 1846 by lowering rates to between 15% and 24%. The Tariff of 1857 was developed in response to a federal budget surplus in the mid-1850s. The firs ...

, which used it as a base and reduced rates further. The 1861 Morril Tariff raised the effective rate collected on dutiable imports by approximately 70%. Customs revenue from tariffs totaled $345 million from 1861 through 1865.

References

External links

Taussig, Frank. ''Tariff History of the United States'' (1912)
{{US tax acts 1846 in the United States United States federal taxation legislation United States federal trade legislation Presidency of James K. Polk