the territory smoot-hawley tariff in 1930, effectively closing off the united states from all foreign vendors who try american markets. this was a country that had for the first time in its history in 1924 in post numerical limits on how many immigrants could enter the country in any given year, roughly 130,000. it was a country that had insisted on the repatriation of treasury loans made to the british, french and italian governments during world war ii . a position that badly disrupted international capital flows in the inter-war period. and a country that had passed no fewer than five so-called therality statute durin g 1930's designed to keep the united states out of the conflict that would become known as world war ii. so, anyone who had predicted, again from the standpoint of 1940, that this country would champion a new international organization to succeed the league of nations, call the united nations. and it would be located not over there in geneva, switzerland, but in fact, on the soil of our principal city in new york, and that we would be its chief funder and patron for m

the devastating smoot/hawley act of 1930 raised tariffs on more than 20,000 items. this contributed to a 66% decline in world trade from 1929 to 1934. this misguided act of congress ignited great depression. in 1934 with the leadership of secretary of state kordell hull, tennessean, franklin roosevelt overturned smoot/hawley act and established the trade policy the united states pursued every since, one of me tiff markets. history has shown repeatedly that free market economies create human opportunity. the post-war general agreement on trade and tariffs or gatt, which sought to reduce trade barriers was deciding factor in the post-war growth of the united states, which became the richest country in the world. u.s. trade policy was also a major factor in the recovery of japan, germany, and other devastated countries. now, trade certainly got its fair share of attention in the recent presidential campaign. but much of what was said was inaccurate and i'd like to set the record straight. first trade is good for and absolutely essential to prosperity. trade is a two-wa

the devastating smoot/hawley act of 1930 raised tariffs on more than 20,000 items.s contributed to a 66% decline in world trade from 1929 to 1934. this misguided act of congress ignited the great depression. in 1934 with the leadership of secretary of state kordell hall, good tennesseean franklin roosevelt overturned the smoot/hawley act and established the trade policy the united states has pursued ever since, one of competitive open markets. history has shown repeatedly that free market economies create human opportunity. the postwar general agreement on trade and tariffs or gatt which sought to reduce tariffs and other trade barriers was a decisive factor in the post-war growth of the united states which became the richest country in the world. u.s. trade policy was also a major factor in the recovery of japan, germany and other devastated countries. trade certainly got its fair share of attention in the recent presidential campaign, but much of what was said is inaccurate and i'd like to set the record straight. first, trade is good for and absolutely essential

franklin roosevelt overturned the smoot hawley act and established the trade policy the united states has pursued ever since, one of competitive, open markets. history has shown repeatedly that free market economies create human opportunity. the post war general agreement on trade and tariffs or gap, which sought to reduce tariffs, was a decisive factor in the post-war growth of the united states, which became the richest country in the world. u.s. trade policy was a major factor in the recovery of japan, germany and other countries. trade got its fair share of attention in the recent presidential campaign. much of what was said is inaccurate. first, trade is good for and absolutely essential to american prosperity. trade is a two-way street in which both imports and exports are vital. the u.s. exports goods and services. in 2015, the united states exported more than 750 billion in services. we also import products for other countries, imports secure materials created for american products and give our families more choices and lower prices. from 1960 to 2015, trade rose as a percenta

the last time was in the 1930's, the so-called smoot-hawley law.e have a gold standard, so every time the u.s. put up tariffs, in necessarily raise prices of every country, imports. that is why we had trade contraction from one country to another. today we have a different and interesting situation. 45% tariff up against chinese imports, what they could do is manage a massive currency devaluation -- , 40%atan 40 -- let's say for arguments sake. that would offset the impact for the tariffs. alan saying is that we have a floating exchange rate system around the world that would offset a lot of potential real damage to the country's. but you have to be careful on the markets. if you have a trade problem between china and the united chinese currency is going to make a lot of downward adjustments. is a: you are saying this political matter more than an economic matter. when the president came and he was a true reformer. he just needed to consolidate his power. he has consolidated his power. will the extent political capital -- with the extent political

look, smoot-hawley didn't work well in 1930. it's not going to work well today.ow we're going to open markets. i our country has about 14 trade agreements with 20 countries. we want a net trade surplus in the manufacturing sector with those 20 countries. where we have ruled-based trade, america wins. when we don't have agreements, frankly, that's where we lose. we have to help president-elect donald trump get to a better place on trade. he should be talking about a bilateral with the uk and even japan right now. >> what are the chances, kevin? that americans one day may have a tax return that looks like this? >> the answer is better than ever. because if not, we have a house with a blueprint, you have american public -- they're sick of the tax code the way it is today. you have presidential leadership all three were key to the reagan reforms. >> how about the house of lords? >> the house of lords. look, i'll tell you what, chairman hatch, head of the finance, is all in on tax reform. >> he calls him chairman hatch instead of lord hatch. >> he's a terrific leader,

smoot-hawleysmoot-hawley. >> announcer: this is a news4 today news break. >>> 8:56 is your time now on december 8th, 2016. good morning. i am eun yang. we want to check on the traffic with melissa mollet. >> outer loop after 66 two left lanes are getting by a crash, and we had just one lane open and now it's two, so that's a bit better. eastbound 50 at 20, a crash there. vehicle on the left side of the roadway and southbound there at 197, a crash blocking a left lane so not the quickest commute on the b.w. parkway this morning. >> we will take a quick break and check your weather when we come back. oh, that's lovely... so graceful. the corkscrew spin, flawless... ...his signature move, the flying dutchman. poetry in motion. and there it is, the "baby bird". breathtaking. a sumo wrestler figure skating? surprising. what's not surprising? how much money heather saved by switching to geico. >>> we are in the 30s and 40s right now, and a little cooler in gaithersburg and frederick with plenty of clouds out there right now. we will have increasing sun as we move into the afternoon hours and