The Tariff of 1842, or Black Tariff as it became known, was a protectionist

tariff A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and p ...

schedule adopted in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. It reversed the effects of the

Compromise Tariff The Tariff of 1833 (also known as the Compromise Tariff of 1833, ch. 55, ), enacted on March 2, 1833, was proposed by Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun as a resolution to the Nullification Crisis. Enacted under Andrew Jackson's presidency, it was ...

of 1833, which contained a provision that successively lowered the tariff rates from their level under the

Tariff of 1832 The Tariff of 1832 ( 22nd Congress, session 1, ch. 227, , enacted July 14, 1832) was a protectionist tariff in the United States. Enacted under Andrew Jackson's presidency, it was largely written by former President John Quincy Adams, who had ...

over a period of ten years until the majority of dutiable goods were to be taxed at 20%. As the 20% level approached in 1842, industrial interests and members of the Whig Party began clamoring for protection by claiming that the reductions left them vulnerable to European competition. The bill restored protection and raised average tariff rates to almost 40% and stipulated sweeping changes to the tariff schedule and collection system, most of which were designed to augment its protective character. It also replaced most ad valorem rates with specific duties, assessed on a good-by-good basis, and replaced the credit system of tariff finance with a cash payment system, collected at portside customs houses.

Legislative history

The Black Tariff was signed into law somewhat reluctantly by President John Tyler, following a year of disputes with the Whig leaders in Congress over the restoration of national banking and the government's land disbursement policies. For the previous year, Whig leaders in Congress had sent bills to Tyler coupling the tariff hike with a public land disbursement package, which had been insisted upon by Henry Clay, prompting a presidential veto. In the summer of 1842, representatives from the northeastern manufacturing states began feeling electoral pressures for a tariff hike before the elections that fall and abandoned Clay's land disbursement program. The resulting bill contained the tariff hike alone, which satisfied the manufacturers and was acceptable to Tyler since it lacked the land disbursement provisions. The main beneficiary industry to receive protection under the tariff was iron. Import taxes on iron goods, both raw and manufactured, amounted to almost two thirds of their price overall and exceeded 100% on many items, such as nails and hoop iron. The law also raised the percentage of dutiable goods from just over 50% of all imports to over 85% of all imports.

Impact

The impact of the 1842 tariff was felt almost immediately, with sharp decline in international trade in 1843. Imports into the United States nearly halved from their 1842 levels and exports, affected by overall trade patterns, dropped by approximately 20%. The Tariff of 1842 was repealed in 1846, when it was replaced by the

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

. The Whigs' loss of Congress and the presidency in 1844 facilitated a Democratic-led effort to reduce the rates again. Concerns that the Black Tariff's high rates would suppress future trade and, with it, customs revenue fueled the movement to repeal the act. The tariff act of 1842 had a significant impact on railroad building. The duty of $17/ton of hammered bar iron and $25/ton of rolled bar iron raised costs by 50 to 80%. The Walker tariff of 1846 reduced the duty to 30% and set off a railroad building boom in the 1850s.

References

{{John Tyler 1842 in law 1842 in the United States 1842 United States federal taxation legislation 27th United States Congress

Legislative history

Impact

See also

References