Yet protectionist policies have not been the source of America's economic strength. And American policy, fortunately, remains largely directed toward free trade. Page 224. 2. Alfred Eckes noted the contrast between the public free trade rhetoric of the Founding Fathers and their private protectionism. F. W. Taussig, The Tariff History of the United States , 8th ed.
More recent studies confirm the failure of infant industry protection.
Buchanan has even defended the Smoot-Hawley tariff and made protectionism the bedrock of his presidential campaign.