Nothing is more American than the pickup truck. One big reason why: the “chicken tax.”
The U.S. has imposed a 25% tariff on imported trucks ever since President Lyndon Johnson hit back at European levies on American poultry in 1963, less than two weeks after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
As the Trump administration pursues a barrage of new tariffs, the longstanding tax on pickup trucks bears witness to the power of high duties to reshape global trade, competition and industry over decades, with effects far exceeding their original purpose.
Like today’s tensions, the dispute that became known as the “chicken war” was punctuated by worries about the trade deficit, accusations of protectionism and threats to cut Europe loose from America’s defense umbrella.
Back then, though, Washington favored lower import duties and imposed the chicken tax only after more than a year of fruitless diplomacy. Johnson’s trade representative “emphasized that the tariff increases weren’t necessarily permanent and could be canceled” as soon as Europe cut its poultry levies, The Wall Street Journal reported at the time.
Since becoming president, Donald Trump has introduced a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum, a 25% tax on many goods imported from Mexico and Canada and an additional 20% duty on Chinese products. He has said he would give details of further wide-ranging tariffs, including a potential 25% levy on all light-vehicle imports, on April 2.
Some lessons from the 1960s auto tariff are consistent with the current White House’s America-first agenda, others less so.
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