President Trump’s newly implemented tariffs against China have escalated the trade war between the two countries, continuing a long history of American trade conflicts with wide-ranging consequences. The Onion looks back at the most significant trade wars in U.S. history.
Boston Tea Party:
As part of an ongoing battle against British “taxation without representation,” the Sons of Liberty punished the ocean by dumping a bunch of tea into it.
Smoot-Hawley Act:
These 1930 agricultural and industrial tariffs are seen today as not only further cratering the Great Depression economy by inspiring retaliatory foreign tariffs, but also triggering a series of devastatingly incomprehensible editorial cartoons.
Chicken Tax:
The 1964 faceoff between Lyndon Johnson, West Germany, and France over import prices led to a sharp decline in the use of chicken as a building material.
Japanese Trade War:
In the 1980s, President Reagan doubled the import prices of Japanese electronics after his Sony Walkman ate his Bon Jovi cassette tape.
Oilers-Rangers:
The New York Rangers lay siege to the Canadian city of Edmonton for several months in 1991 before the Oilers agree to surrender star center Mark Messier.
Steel Tariff:
Rising steel prices in 2002 caused by steep tariffs put an end to the medieval armor suit industry for good.
Iraq War:
This conflict erupted in 2003 over a dispute about who had the right to trade Iraq’s oil.
Trump Tariffs:
Trump left the solar power industry reeling after placing new tariffs on the sun.