Payne-Aldrich Tariff

(noun)

This act from 1909 began in the U.S. House of Representatives as a bill lowering certain tariffs on goods entering the United States. It was the first change in tariff laws since the Dingley Act of 1897. President William Howard Taft called Congress into a special session in 1909 shortly after his inauguration to discuss the issue.

Related Terms

Examples of Payne-Aldrich Tariff in the following topics:

  • Tariff Reform

    • In 1908, Republicans promised to lower unpopular tariffs on U.S. imports, but the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act further divided Republicans.
    • Senator Payne proposed a bill that lowered the tariff on many imported goods.
    • In the end, Congress adopted the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act, which lowered 650 tariffs, raised 220 tariffs, and left 1,150 tariffs untouched.
    • Although the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act did very little to affect the current status of tariffs, it angered many Democrats, Progressives, and Progressive Republicans because it did not solve the tariff issue.
    • Roosevelt in particular criticized Taft over the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act, and led a faction of Progressive Republicans away from Taft's conservative Republicans.

  • The Tariff

    • The United States Revenue Act of 1913 re-imposed the federal income tax, and lowered basic tariff rates from 40% to 25%.
    • The United States Revenue Act of 1913 (also known as the Tariff Act, Underwood Tariff or Underwood-Simmons Act) re-imposed the federal income tax following the ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment.
    • Additionally, it lowered basic tariff rates from 40% to 25%, well below the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act of 1909.
    • In April 1913, President Wilson summoned a special joint session of Congress in order to confront the perennial tariff question.
    • The 1913 Act established the lowest rates since the Walker Tariff of 1857.

  • Wilsonian Progressivism

    • Wilson's tariff reform was largely achieved through the passage of the Underwood Tariff Act of 1913.
    • The 1913 Act established the lowest rates since the Walker Tariff of 1857.
    • Aldrich, and the powerful left wing of the Democratic party, led by William Jennings Bryan over the banking issue.
    • Instead, Democrats advocated for a government-owned central bank that could print paper money as Congress required, a measure that Aldrich and the Republicans vigorously opposed.
    • In addition to the Underwood tariff, which seemed to finally resolve the political debate over tariff rates, and the creation of the Federal Reserve, Wilson also supported anti-trust legislation.

  • The Wilson Administration

    • This included the Federal Reserve Act, the Underwood Tariff, the Federal Trade Commission, the Clayton Antitrust Act, and the Adamson Act.
    • Aldrich), and the powerful left wing of the Democratic Party (led by Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan).
    • Another landmark of his first term was his effective mobilization of public opinion behind tariff changes, beginning in 1913 with passage of the Revenue Act, better known as the Underwood Tariff, in which revenue lost by lower tariffs was replaced by a new federal income tax.