Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act (RTAA): Congress delegates authority to the president to negotiate bilateral trade agreements and adjust tariffs within limits dynamically. Beginning of executive role in tariff management.
Significance
- Congressional delegation of bilateral trade agreements to the Executive Branch
- Allowed President to negotiate +/- 50% of existing Smoot-Hawley Tariff rates
- Set Reciprocity as fundamental to negotiating Tariffs that US tariff cuts only if US got a cut in return
- Moved Tariffs from Congressional lists to Executive bargaining
- Unconditional Multi Lateral Most Favored Nation (MFN) clauses – if you cut Tariff X every country gets the best rate – default multi lateral
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