Catherine Rampell is an economics writer for the Washington Post. In an article in 2023, she observes that “the average U.S. tariff rate on men’s underwear is 11.5 percent.

The average rate on women’s undies, on the other hand?

It’s a few points higher, at 15.5 percent.” She notes that women’s underwear tends to be more labor-intensive to produce and, therefore, it may have been more difficult decades ago for U.S. garment manufacturers to compete against imports from low-wage countries. She cites research from Miguel Acosta of the Federal Reserve Board and Lydia Cox of Yale shows that in trade negotiations the United States entered into during the 1930s and 1940s often resulted in higher tariff rates on more labor-intensive products. Rampell also notes that “in the end, these protectionist policies proved ineffective at shielding U.S. companies from the competition; garment manufacturing for both genders . . . almost entirely left the United States anyway.”

Why would the United States continue to impose tariffs on imported underwear if there are few domestic underwears producers left in the country?