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This page is really, really messy. I do not have nearly the level of familiarity with tariff history to be the one to give quality fixes to the issues I have with this article, but I want to list them here to solicit ideas and further opinions on this. Here's some things that might need a lot of work:
General NPOV problems in its current tone: This is probably the most important aspect and affects many portions of the article. Notably, the entire "Tariffs and the Great Depression" section is practically an essay dedicated to trying to convince readers that the Smoot-Hawley tariff played a minimal role in the Great Depression rather than presenting any coherent historical chronology. The section on McKinley's policy is similarly written like an essay, with passages like "Promising protection and prosperity to every economic sector, he won a smashing victory," (I altered some of this), "Reciprocity went nowhere; McKinley's vision was a half century too early" and "He campaigned for president in 1908 for tariff "reform", which everyone assumed meant lower rates." These felt like particularly strong examples but there's more than I could reasonably cover in a readable post.
Two completely unsourced sections that do not feel they deserve a dedicate space on a page that is dedicated to "History of tariffs in the United States" - "Tariff revenues" and "Smuggling and Coast Guard". The former can be simply synthesized into its appropriate historical era sections and the latter is an appropriate topic on the page for tariffs in the US in general, but is not suited for the sort of macro-view the article currently takes.
An unsuitable "historical summary" section that is heavy on the establishment of tariffs and their early history, has limited information after the Civil War and completely omits every development after 1922 aside from a single unsourced sentence about the general level of tariffs post-WWII.
The "Tariffs and historical American politicians" section is unencyclopedic in its current form, and possibly belongs in its respective historical eras, as it feels like a slight detour from the subject of the article - but the way it is written currently is too messy to keep. It is a wall of quotes, all of which serve to justify tariffs and protectionism. No other opinions are presented.
Tariffs weren't the only source of revenue for the US for so long just because everyone thought they were a great idea or no other ideas existed - prior to the 16th amendment, direct taxation was prohibited and this is not addressed at all in the current article.
Protectionism in the United States - the Protectionism article is a mostly worse version of this one, with an alarming amount of overlap possibly justifying a merger or paring down of one or both articles. Some of the portions are copied and pasted from each other.
Messy sectioning for historical eras: 2 paragraphs for "Colonial Era to 1789", extensive detail in 1789-1828 and 1829-1859, significant creeping in of POV language afterwards. The 1913 to 1929 section, which puzzlingly links to the Smoot-Hawley tariff (of 1930) as its "main article", abruptly detours into the Great Depression, WWII, and Donald Trump in its final sentences. Plentiful issues with the Great Depression section are noted in my NPOV complaints. The 1980s-2000 section goes into 2002, and the 2000-present section contains no actions by policymakers (there have been many!) and is instead a space to argue that liberalized trade with China has harmed the American working and middle classes.
This article needs so, so much help. The protectionism article needs it too. I don't want to slap a bunch of warnings on the article without consulting others, nor do I know how to call for more organized action to fix these articles aside from writing this. DubiousVillain (talk) 23:07, 9 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]
