Tarriffs were the norm in America up to 1934 and supported particularly by the Republican Party. They began to be dismantled between 1934 and 1947 by the Democrats under Franklin Roosevelt and Truman. Broadly speaking, you're wrong on this. Right wing governments in many western economies have used tarriffs to incubate new industries or to buttress existing industries that are threatened by foreign competition. They raise costs to consumers and tend to dampen wage growth.