The sweeping tariff increases of the 1930 Smoot-Hawley Act, widely seen as exacerbating the Great Depression, were soon revisited after a change of government but still “took decades to unwind”, Irwin noted.

Tariffs are taxes on goods imported from other countries. Companies buying foreign products pay the tariffs imposed on them — and, as a result, face higher costs that are typically passed on to customers.

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The S&P 500 fell 4 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 4.5 per cent in morning trading on Friday, a day after the steepest decline for Wall Street stocks since the coronavirus crisis in 2020.

Global stocks tumbled for a second day on Friday as U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff plans sowed fears about a global recession, with the sell-off deepening after China said it would impose additional levies of 34% on American goods.

The Trump administration imposed a 10% minimum tariff on all imports coming into the country and even higher tariffs on other top trading partners.