Editing Reciprocal Tariff Act (section)

=== Differences between RTAA and other trade agreements ===
Before the RTAA, if Congress wanted to establish a lower tariff for particular [[imports]], it would act unilaterally and tackle the foreign country's tariff rate as fixed. Congress would choose a tariff rate that was either a little higher or lower than the median preferred tariff, depending upon the composition of the Congress. Generally, a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]-controlled Congress would prefer higher tariffs, and a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]-controlled Congress would prefer lower tariffs. Thus, tariffs were chosen based on US [[domestic politics]]. Individual members of Congress were under great pressure from industry [[lobbyists]] to raise tariffs to protect it from the negative effects of foreign imports.<ref name="Bailey"/>

The RTAA's novel approach freed Roosevelt and Congress to break that trend of tariff increases. It tied US tariff reductions to reciprocal tariff reductions with international partners. It also allowed Congress to approve the tariffs with a [[Majority|simple majority]], as opposed to the [[two-thirds majority]] necessary for other treaties. Also, the President had the authority to negotiate the terms. The three innovations in trade policy created the political will and feasibility to enact a more liberal trade policy.<ref name="Bailey"/>

[[Reciprocity (international relations)|Reciprocity]] was an important tenet of the [[trade agreements]] brokered under RTAA because it gave Congress an incentive to lower tariffs. As more foreign countries entered into bilateral tariff reduction deals with the United States, exporters had more incentive to lobby Congress for even lower tariffs across many industries.<ref name="Bailey"/>

By giving the President the authority to negotiate the deals, the Congress effectively ceded a part of its power (authorized under US Constitution, Article I, Section VIII) to the executive branch. The President had to consider the welfare of all Americans, his [[foreign policy]] priorities, and what was feasible with other countries in making his decisions on tariffs. Those considerations generally left presidents more inclined to reduce tariffs than the Congress.<ref name="Alt">{{cite journal|author1-link=James E. Alt|last=Alt|first=James E.|author2=Gilligan, Michael |title=The Political Economy of Trading States: Factor Specificity, Collective Action Problems and Domestic Political Institutions|journal=The Journal of Political Philosophy|year=1994|volume=2|issue=2|pages=165–192|doi=10.1111/j.1467-9760.1994.tb00020.x}}</ref>   Whether Roosevelt or Congress foresaw that result is a matter of historical debate.