Before Trump: The long US history of tariff wars with Canada and the world

President Trump has agreed to pause 25 percent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada for a month, while a 10 percent tariff on Chinese imports took effect. The threat of a tariff war remains as Mexico and Canada had warned of retaliatory tariffs, and China has announced tit-for-tat tariffs. Trump justified the tariffs by accusing the countries of not preventing drugs and illegal immigration, as well as addressing trade deficits. Past tariff wars, such as the Smoot-Hawley Tariffs in 1930, have shown negative economic impacts and led to the signing of trade agreements to negate the effects.

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