The largest scale protectionist experiment was the Smooth-Hawley's Tariffs Act of 1930 which precipitated the US recession into a Global Great Depression, when all countries set tariffs to "protect" their economies, paralyzing global trade and creating a wave of over 50 percent unemployment that ushered Hitler, Mussolini and Mao Tse Tung into power.
Smooth-Hawley is a regular subject on basic economy 101 courses:
And its legacy has been profusely analyzed
It was a Republican president elected during hard times who made the decision.
History repeats itself?
Let's hope this time is different
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