Week in Insights: The ‘Chicken Tax’ Has Made an Enduring Impact

Curated by Daniel Xu

This month marks the 60th anniversary of the so-called “chicken tax,” an obscure bit of tax and trade policy that primarily impacts light trucks.

The tax and its name originated from the Chicken War, a period from 1961 to 1964 during which the European Economic Community denied market access to US chicken producers to protect domestic poultry farmers.

The US introduced the tax after negotiations to resolve the rooster ruckus reached a stalemate. The Lyndon B. Johnson administration imposed a 25% tariff on light trucks—specifically to capture the Volkswagen Microbus—as well as ...