What President Trump Can Do With The American System 2.0 - Flipbook - Page 8
For Hamilton, the purpose of tari昀昀s is primarily to protect and promote the development of
new industries and new productive capabilities.
As to transportation, Hamilton proposes an active role by the national government in developing the nation’s transportation systems, including ports, canals and roads (often referred to as
internal improvements, at the time). But, in his
proposals for bounties, premiums, and the encouragement of new inventions and discoveries,
Hamilton goes even further. He is de昀椀ning new
industries, new inventions, and new discoveries
as the indispensable pathway for the economic
be琀琀erment of the nation. This is an active, not
passive, use of the institutions of government to
support human advancement through creative
and productive enterprise.
Hamilton also proposes the establishment of
a national “development board,” which shall be
instituted to:
Promote the introduction of useful discoveries, inventions and improvements
by proportional rewards, judiciously
held out and applied; to encourage by
premiums, both honorable and lucrative, the exertions of individuals and of
classes, in relation to the several objects
they are charged with promoting; and
to a昀昀ord such other aids to those objects
as may be generally designated by law,
[and to encourage the] emigration of
artists and manufacturers in particular
branches of extraordinary importance.
This is a nation-building policy and a path
to national prosperity. This American System
approach has nothing to do with silly notions
of
socialism or communism, and is in explicit
90%
opposition to free-trade doctrines developed by
the British Empire to justify their global imperial control and looting policies. It’s about ensuring our nation has sovereign control over our
credit system, and is able to use credit and other
tools to protect and encourage human creative
advancement as the only true source of wealth.
Returning to the American System
On June 19, 2024, President Donald Trump
posted a short statement on Truth Social:
If you want to study Tari昀昀s, and how
powerful they are, study the administration of President William McKinley. America had so much money they
didn’t know what to do with it!
Prior to the mid-20th century and for most of
American history, high tari昀昀 rates were a cornerstone of American economic policy. Prior to
the adoption of the Constitution, tari昀昀s, or the
lack thereof, were the leading source of economic contention, as well as a major cause of
the new nation’s 昀椀scal crisis under the Articles
of Confederation. Without a new Constitution,
states were in a race to the bo琀琀om over lower
and lower tari昀昀s in hopes of monopolizing
trade, which, as a result, would deprive the nation of critical resources to pay the army, to retire the debt, and to fund the post-war recovery.
One of the 昀椀rst acts of Congress in 1789, under
the new Constitution, was to apply to the new
uni昀椀ed nation a uniform impost tax on imports.
Alexander Hamilton introduced a national
policy of protective tari昀昀s. Later, in the 19th century, a series of American System presidents—
most notably John Quincy Adams, Abraham
Lincoln and William McKinley—would expand
on this approach. From 1789 to 1950, tari昀昀 rates
60%
Tariff Rates
30%
0%
page 6
1900
1925
1950
1975
2000
What President Trump Can Do With the American System 2.0
