Hamilton Tariff

The Hamilton Tariff (ch. 2, 1 Stat. 24, enacted July 4, 1789, also called the Tariff of 1789) was the second statute ever enacted by the new federal government of the United States, by a vote of the first U.S. Congress. Most of the rates of the revenue tariff were between 5 and 10 percent, depending on the value of the item. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton was anxious to establish the tariff as a regular source of government revenue and to encourage the growth of domestic manufacturing to lessen America's then-heavy dependence on foreign-made products. It also established the United States Customs Service.

The Hamilton Tariff and much of Hamilton's financial plan can be attributed as one of the causes of the schism in the Federalist Party. It facilitated the growth of Northern manufacturers by having the imported goods absorb the federal treasury's financial needs but harmed Southern farmers by making foreign-made products more expensive.