The basis of this agreement was attributed to two main reasons; firstly, the Smooth-Hawley Act of 1931 which raised import duties by 53% and 59% in 1931 and 1932 respectively had led to retaliatory policies by other countries which caused a shrink in world trade, secondly the great depression of the 1930s was severe enough to prevent countries from existing on their own hence the need for coexistence through reliable trade agreements. This trade act served as a precursor for 29 multiple bilateral trade agreements between US and other countries from 1934 to 1947.
According to Irwin (1998), despite the impact of RTAA in changing the process of U.S. trade policy making, it actually had a relatively minor effect on the height of U.S. tariffs. And further explained that the United States experienced major swings in the average ad valorem tariff (tariff revenue as a share of dutiable imports) during this period-from 40 percent in 1929 to 59 percent in 1932 to 14 percent in 1948. In a bid to aid the resuscitation of the European Countries disrupted by the war, the US signed the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. By that time, the significance of the RTAs had declined. The GATT was a trade setting based on multilateral trade