ABSTRACT
The general impression of persons in contact with the American business community in the postwar period was that it had shifted away from protectionism during or after World War II. Certainly the data from the National Opinion Research Center survey supported the notion that American businessmen had shifted away from protectionism in the period since 1939. The 1939 Fortune poll had shown a clear relationship between the size of a man's firm and the stand he took on tariffs. Among the smallest manufacturers, 42 per cent favored raising tariffs, whereas this was true of only 7 per cent of the largest manufacturers. Manufacturers as a whole, while not quite as solidly agreed as transportation executives, gave predominant support to lowering rather than raising tariffs. "Raise tariffs" in general is a fairly drastic stand to take in an era of internationalism.
