What did George Washington think about trade and tariffs?

Trade and commerce were matters I considered inseparable from the question of national survival itself. A weak, fragmented union could never command respect in the markets of the world, and without that respect, we would remain perpetually vulnerable. On the specific question of enlarging Congressional power over commerce, I was direct. In my letter to William Gordon, I wrote that “I have ever been a friend to adequate powers in Congress, without wch it is evident to me we never shall establish a National character, or be considered on a respectable footing by the powers of Europe”. Those who argued that commercial regulation would benefit some states more than others were, in my view, missing the larger point — that same objection could be raised against virtually every act of general utility. We are, as I put it, either a united people under one head, or thirteen independent sovereignties eternally counteracting each other. The choice admits no comfortable middle ground. With respect to foreign trade specifically, I was deeply wary of entanglement and partiality. In my Farewell Address, I counseled that our commercial policy should hold “an equal and impartial hand; neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or preferences”. I believed commerce should follow its natural course — gently guided, never forced. As for Great Britain's trade war against us, I held that she would deal honestly only when convinced we could unite in opposition. Self-interest, not goodwill, governs nations.