In season 2, episode 3 of Victoria, Queen Victoria takes up the case of the Spitalfields silk weavers. Due to cheaper silk imports, many people were not doing business with the Spitalfields weavers. One of the weavers presents an emotional plea to the Queen. Taken with their case, Victoria goes to the Prime Minister, Robert Peel, to tell him about her plans to help the weavers. Peel, however, warns her that one cannot control every business with tariffs. This scene reminded me of the sugar tariffs in the United States, which prevent cheaper imports from being sold and only benefit the American sugar industry. Tariffs usually result in reduced competition for those in favor of the tax. In the episode, the Spitalfield weavers are trying to eliminate their competition by encouraging the Queen to impose a tariff. However, the tariff would not have necessarily helped the weavers in the way they wanted and instead would have hurt the economy and cut various jobs. Competition is meant to weed out ineffective businesses and cause the economy to grow. A tariff prevents this and causes many inefficiencies.
While Victoria does not go through with the tariff, she decides to help the silk weavers by throwing a ball in which the guests only wear silk from the Spitalfields weavers. She thinks that her endorsement of the weavers will cause people to buy from the weavers instead of choosing the cheaper silk. However, this plan backfires on the Queen, and the people become angry since they feel that the Queen is showing she does not care about the plight of the poor who do not have the luxury to spend money on silks and balls.
References
Goodwin, D. (Writer), Sax, G. (Director). (2017, September 10). Warp and Weft. (Season 2, Episode 3). Victoria, UK: ITV Studios.
Moffatt, M. (2019). “The Economic Effect of Tariffs.” https://www.thoughtco.com/the-economic-effect-of-tariffs-1146368.