Has there been a case where an increase in import taxes was linked to an improved economic status in a country? Ie - resulted in net jobs saved, increased GDP etc. It doesn't need to necessarily be economic, but does need to be measurable.
There is some pretty strong arguments against taxes on cross-border trade, however import tariffs are pretty standard world wide.
I read last night (and now can't find!) of a brief history of tariffs and their follow-on effect, and it was not positive. However, the article could have been cherry-picked etc.
For bonus points, what are the countries in the world with the highest/lowest tariffs. Can we infer anything about import taxes effects on a country from these results?