ABSTRACT
International trade policy has always been a contentious issue in the United States. It was the imposition of a tariff that precipitated the unscheduled unloading of tea into Boston Harbor from ships of the British East India Company in 1773—an event popularly identified as marking the beginning of the American Revolution. British taxes and restrictions placed on exports from the colonies were one of the grievances cited in the Declaration of Independence, and their importance was reflected by the prohibition of export taxes in the Constitution of the new republic.
