The Tariff of Abominations

for real, that's what they called it

Donald Trump is threatening Canada with another round of 35% tariffs that will (maybe?) take effect on August 1st. Which is definitely a firm deadline, except for when it isn’t. Or something. Canada is already being tariffed at a 25% rate, excluding a whole host of goods. Trump says he’ll raise the tariffs higher than 35% if Canada retaliates. He claims this is because of fentanyl coming through the Canadian border; in reality, less than 1% of fentanyl brought into the country comes from Canada. Trump just doesn’t like Carney.

While plenty of parallels between Trump’s mindless economic policies and the Smoot-Hawley tariffs that drove the globe into the Great Depression have been pointed out, this fresh round reminded me of an episode from farther back in our past: the Tariff of Abominations.