There is a vast literature on the relationship between trade policy and growth, including several papers on the late 19 th century experience (e.g. O’Rourke 2000, Clemens and Williamson 2004). However, standard trade models suggest that the structure of protection, rather than the overall average tariff level, should matter for resource allocation and hence for growth. This paper assembles a database of agricultural, manufacturing and revenue tariffs for 10 countries between 1875 and 1913, and asks what the relationship was between each of these variables and (a) aggregate (b) sectoral growth.