You put your finger on why everyone reacts the way they do. Tariffs may drive prices up in the short term, but they promote local production and trade of goods. The Wall Street types and the bankers want to monetize debt not promote industry. It gives them the control over the economy.

Kaiser Wilhelm complained that Germany had become the dumping ground for cheap goods and grain. The effect in the 1870s was that prices went through the floor and overall quality dropped significantly. It also hurt German agriculture and industry by making it diffulicult to compete.

Germany reinforced the policy in 1902.

I'm not saying this is what caused WW1, but in the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was forbidden from issuing tariffs until 1925, which tells you something about what the City of London, which held all the gold, felt about tariffs.