If a president like McKinley supported trade, what would his tariff policy likely be?

• A. To increase tariffs
• B. To decrease tariffs
• C. To maintain tariffs
• D. To subsidize exports

Answer: (B)

When a leader favors trade, the idea is to lower barriers to exchanging goods with other countries. Tariffs are a type of barrier because they raise the cost of imported goods. Lowering those barriers makes imports cheaper, boosts competition, and generally increases international trade. That’s why decreasing tariffs fits a pro-trade stance.

Raising tariffs would have the opposite effect—making imports more expensive and restricting trade. Keeping tariffs the same wouldn’t signal a move toward more trade, and subsidizing exports is a different tool that also doesn’t directly adjust the price of imports through tariffs.