Which policy introduced by Herbert Hoover worsened the Great Depression?

Which policy introduced by Herbert Hoover worsened the Great Depression?

• A. Import duties
• B. Free trade
• C. Tax cuts
• D. Social welfare expansion

Answer: (A)

The key idea is that trade policy can influence how bad a downturn gets. Herbert Hoover’s act of imposing import duties, especially through the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, made things worse. By raising tariffs on thousands of goods, it cut international trade and kept demand for American exports low. Other countries answered with retaliatory tariffs, so global trade collapsed further. That shrinking of markets hit farmers and manufacturers hard, deepening unemployment and the deflation that defined the Depression. Free trade would have kept markets open and potentially cushioned the fall, while tax cuts or expanding social welfare were not the policy move Hoover used to intensify the downturn in that period.

The key idea is that trade policy can influence how bad a downturn gets. Herbert Hoover’s act of imposing import duties, especially through the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, made things worse. By raising tariffs on thousands of goods, it cut international trade and kept demand for American exports low. Other countries answered with retaliatory tariffs, so global trade collapsed further. That shrinking of markets hit farmers and manufacturers hard, deepening unemployment and the deflation that defined the Depression. Free trade would have kept markets open and potentially cushioned the fall, while tax cuts or expanding social welfare were not the policy move Hoover used to intensify the downturn in that period.