Blog
Groups Urge U.S. House to Nullify Wasteful Catfish Rule
In a coalition letter yesterday, 10 market-oriented groups, including CEI, urged the House leadership to call for a vote on S.J. Res. 28 to nullify…
Blog
Bashing Trade Is a Popular Election Year Target
Pundits are opining that Bernie Sanders’ significant win in the Democratic primaries in Michigan was primarily due to his vehement anti-trade stance. Donald Trump’s surge…
Blog
Permanent Moratorium on Internet Taxation in Customs Bill
Today the Senate voted 75-20 in favor of the conference report accompanying H.R. 644, the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, the so-called customs…
Blog
Trans-Pacific Partnership Signed, Provisions a Mixed Bag
U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) in Auckland, New Zealand, yesterday, together with ministers from 11 other Pacific-rim…
Blog
COOL Ruling Puts U.S. in the Hot Seat
In a move intended to avoid harmful retaliatory tariffs from Canada and Mexico, five Democratic senators wrote to both majority and minority Senate leaders,…
Blog
Text of Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Pact Released
The office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has released the complete text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) – a huge trade pact…
Blog
Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement Covers a Lot of Ground
Trade ministers of 12 Asia-Pacific countries announced October 5, 2015, that they had completed negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). The TPP links…
Blog
Thorny Issues in Trans-Pacific Partnership Negotiations
Trade negotiators from 12 countries left Maui at the end of July 2015 without reaching a final agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a massive trade…
Blog
Trade Supporters Opt for More Breathing Room
House leadership will delay reconsideration of Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA)—up to a July 30 deadline they set—to give more time for President Obama to…
Blog
Trade Promotion Authority: What it Is and What it Isn’t
The House of Representatives is poised to vote on Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 (H.R. 1314). Unfortunately,…
Blog
The Value of Trade
WTO's new video, titled “Trade matters to me,” captures the consumer value of trade on an everyday basis, from pants to…
Blog
Sen. Warren Gets Hit on Trade Issues
Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus (May 20, 2015) took on Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) contention that trade agreements are being negotiated in secret, with…
Blog
Trade Promotion Authority: Addressing Some Criticisms
Some members of Congress are concerned about Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), which would fast track trade negotiating authority, but in fact it would be a…
Blog
Human Achievement of the Day: 3D Printing Cups, Cars, Houses, and Faces
3D printing is a relatively recent technological development that has already begun to revolutionize model-building, structural and other medical procedures, and construction of items from…
Blog
Farm Bill Passes Senate, Goes to President
With the U.S. Senate’s passage February 4 of a farm bill by a vote of 68-32, a nearly $1 trillion (over 10 years) farm…
Blog
Schism among Democrats On “Fast Track” to Trade
The trade debate is heating up in the wake of President Obama’s nod to trade in his State of the Union address, the introduction this…
Blog
New Farm Bill Will Deliver the Pork to Farmers
Last night House and Senate conferees agreed on a nearly $1 trillion farm bill that would eliminate long-standing direct payments to farmers but beef…
Blog
Trade Issues Heat Up — A New TPP Leak, “Fast-Track” Bill
WikiLeaks on January 15 leaked another chapter of the negotiation text of a major trade agreement – the environmental chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership…
Blog
Sugar — Congress’ Favorite Sweetener
The sugar lobby’s sweet contributions and their day-in-day-out lobbying means broad bipartisan support for continuing the U.S. sugar program in the 2013 farm bill, as…
Blog
Fast-Track Trade Authority Is in the Works
It sounds like fast-track authority for trade deals is getting some traction, according to an article today in the Financial Times. The FT says that…
Blog
COOL Protectionism Still a Hot Issue
A protectionist meat labeling rule requires complicated labeling of beef, pork and poultry to indicate where the animals were born, raised, and slaughtered. Called country-of-origin…
Blog
Wikileaks’ Latest — Draft IP Chapter in Major Trade Agreement
Wikileaks has made another big splash yesterday -- not about spying, but about a multinational trade agreement currently being negotiated. Wikileaks published a draft…
Blog
Enflaming, Not Enlightening: George Monbiot on Investment Treaties
George Monbiot in The Guardian, in his usual hyperbolic and specious way, describes the proposed U.S.-EU trade agreement’s purpose as to attack national sovereignty…
Blog
Corporate Culture Makes a Difference — In Business and in Baseball
Blog
FTC Likely to Approve Office Depot, Office Max Merger
According to news sources, the Federal Trade Commission is likely to approve the merger of Office Depot and OfficeMax, the second- and third-largest office…
Blog
Sugar Policy Drives Out Candy Companies
“Cheaper sugar sends candy makers abroad” says a headline in today’s Wall Street Journal (gated). The article noted that increasingly U.S. candy makers are…
Blog
House to Consider Separate Food Stamp Bill Later Today
H.R. 3102, the “Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act of 2013’’ will be considered on the House floor later today. The 109-page bill, which…
Blog
Taxpayers Pay High Costs for Crop Insurance Subsidies
Bloomberg on September 9 published an in-depth article on the high costs of federal crop insurance – likely to be increased even more if…
Blog
New USTR Discusses Trade Agenda, How U.S. and EU Can Address Divergent Regulatory Regimes
At a forum this morning hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the new U.S. Trade Representative, Michael Froman, discussed the next steps…
Blog
Farm Bill Bloat Should Be Voted Down
Today, CEI sent a letter to the House of Representatives urging a vote against the farm bill, H.R. 2642. The letter pointed out that…
Blog
Is Agriculture Leadership Trying an End-Run?
Today, a coalition of 20 free-market and conservative groups, including CEI, sent a letter to Speaker of the House Boehner urging him to ensure…
Blog
Time for Splitting the Farm Bill?
The Chicago Tribune this morning had an excellent editorial about the House of Representatives’ defeat of the 2013 Farm Bill last Thursday. (See…
Blog
France Wants Culture Out of U.S.-EU Trade Agreement
A New York Times article yesterday points out some of the potential difficulties already evident in early talks on a trade agreement between the…
Blog
U.S.-EU Trade Talks — The Precautionary Principle Rears its Ugly Head
Even before substantive negotiations have begun, a major problem has surfaced in talks on a U.S.-EU trade agreement. Last month, the European Parliament passed…
Blog
Canada Not Happy with New Country of Origin Labeling Rules
Protectionism through non-tariff trade barriers is alive and well in the trade arena, even with the U.S.’s largest trading partner, Canada. New U.S. Department…
Blog
Coalition Urges Policymakers to Reform the “Terrible Twelve” of Farm Policy
Action is heating up on the next farm bill, as the Senate Agriculture Committee today completed its markup of their bill which will go…
Blog
Coalition Urges Reform of Sugar Program
The Hill picked up our coalition’s release on reforming the U.S. sugar program. The letter, sent to all Senate and House offices, was…
Blog
Transatlantic Speakers Express Strong Support Of U.S.-EU Trade Pact
A high-level panel of experts yesterday pointed out the mutual economic benefits of a broad transatlantic trade pact between the United States and the European…
Blog
Will EU “Cultural Diversity” Exception Undermine U.S.-EU Trade Talks?
A possible bump in the road toward a U.S.-EU trade agreement emerged today as a parliamentary committee of the European Commission voted to begin…
Blog
U.S. Agrees To Japan’s Entry Into Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement
Today, the Acting U.S. Trade Representative announced that the U.S. has agreed to let Japan enter negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, subject…
Blog
NOAA Proposes Tuna-Dolphin Regulations To Comply With WTO Ruling
To comply with a World Trade Organization ruling in a tuna-dolphin complaint brought by Mexico, the U.S. proposed new regulations that would tighten the…
Blog
Retailing As Liberating
Blog
Mercantilism Is An Outdated Concept
There’s an excellent Letter to the Editor in the Financial Times today (“Trade is now about participation,…
Blog
Administration Notifies Congress That Trade Talks With EU Will Begin
Earlier today, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative sent a notice to Congress that the Obama administration would begin negotiating a trade partnership…
Blog
U.S.-EU Trade Negotiations Will Have Some Sticking Points
A Financial Times article today focuses on possible negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement between the U.S. and the European Union and some of…
Blog
Groups Urge Boehner To Hold Firm And Not Give In To Agricultural Special Interests
CEI joined 11 other groups in a letter today to House Speaker John Boehner urging him not to give in to special interest…
Blog
Read Washington Post’s Sports Section for Great Hit at Justice’s Overreach
Excellent commentary in The Washington Post today on the Justice Department’s overreach. Take note — it appeared in the Sports section in a column…
Blog
China Takes Hard Stance on EU’s Airline Emissions Charges
It looks like it could begin a trade war — in airplanes. China has announced that it may impound European Union airplanes in retaliation if…
Blog
WSJ: Senate May Vote on Needed Sugar Reform Amendment
In today’s Wall Street Journal, an editorial sharply criticizes the U.S. sugar program and urges Congress to vote on amendments that would significantly rein…
Blog
Bhagwati: How the Multilateral Trade System Is Being Eroded
Trade economist Jagdish Bhagwati’s latest article points out dangers to the world trading system of bilateral and regional trade agreements between unequal partners that…
Blog
Carbon Tariffs Again in the Spotlight
Here it comes again — talk of an EU carbon tax. This time it’s a member of the new administration of new French President Francois…
Blog
Tuna-Dolphin Issue — Again a WTO Decision
No, tuna-dolphin is not a hybrid fish, but the subject of a long-standing trade dispute between Mexico and the United States arising from a 1990…
Blog
Farm Bill Needs Real Reform, Not New Entitlements, Say Free-Market Groups
CEI joined with 10 other free-market groups in a letter today urging Congress to take on real reform of agricultural subsidies in the next…
Blog
Cordray Already on Board — In a Video — At Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The Obama administration wasted no time in putting in place – in a home-page video — Richard Cordray as head of the Consumer Financial…
Blog
A “Trade War for Christmas” – EU High Court Rules on Airline Emissions
As expected, the European Court for Justice -- the EU’s highest court -- has ruled that the EU’s plan to charge foreign airlines for…
Blog
U.S., Other Countries Threaten to Retaliate Against EU on Airline Emissions “Taxes”
The U.S. sent a strong letter to the European Union warning them that the EU’s airline emissions trading scheme — set to start in…
Blog
92-Year-Old Former German Chancellor Gets Heat for Smoking on TV
Anti-smoking advocates were in full throttle in Germany after former Chancellor of West Germany Helmut Schmidt kept puffing on his cigarette during a television…
Blog
Brooks: More Regulations Don’t Have Huge Effect on Economy
David Brooks’ article today in The New York Times belittles the cost of regulation to American businesses and the U.S. economy and praises the…
Blog
Canada Cuts Tariffs, Endorses Free Trade — Imports Good, Exports Good
In a free-trade lesson the U.S. should study, Canada announced that it was eliminating tariffs on imports that Canadian manufacturers use to help spur…
Blog
Hank Greenberg Rises Again — Takes on Treasury, NY Fed in “Takings” Lawsuit
Feisty 86-year-old Hank Greenberg, long-time chief executive of AIG, is suing the Treasury Department and the New York Federal Reserve Bank charging that its…
Blog
At Long Last, Congress Will Vote on Three Trade Pacts that Unions have Held Up
At long last both the House and the Senate are scheduled to vote on the three free trade agreements (FTAs) that have languished for…
Blog
Looking at TAA Worker Eligibility Last Year — Some Observations and Questions
Now that reauthorization of Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) is all but a done deal -- a quid pro quo from Republican leadership to President…
Blog
Sen. McConnell Introduces “Fast Track” Trade Authority; Hits Unions for Obstructing Trade Agreements
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) made a gutsy statement on the Senate floor today, saying that he was introducing an amendment to give…
Blog
WTO Issues Panel’s Findings on U.S.-Mexico Tuna-Dolphin Dispute
The World Trade Organization’s (WTO) dispute panel has found that the U.S. requirements for a “dolphin-safe” label on tuna products are more trade-restrictive than…
Blog
AMA Calls for Trade Agreements to Exclude Alcohol and Tobacco
The American Medical Association is calling for alcohol and tobacco to be excluded in all new U.S. trade agreements. New Zealand’s NZWeek, at the…
Blog
Canada’s PM praises trade pact with Colombia — a good act for President Obama to follow
Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper, with his strong defense of Canada’s trade agreement with Colombia, provides a stark contrast with President Obama’s weak-kneed approach…
Blog
Cohen Rants About the Tea Party — Our Civilization is at Risk
Blog
Aim for Multilateral Trade Pact — Bilaterals Replete with Protectionist Demands, says Bhagwati
In yesterday’s New York Times, trade economist Jagdish Bhagwati takes the Obama administration and Congress to task for letting the World Trade Organization’s Doha…
Blog
Trade Pacts to Have “Mock” Mark-ups in Senate — Drafts Include Trade Adjustment Assistance
As summer heats up, so does Congress as it looks at legislation that should be considered before the August recess. The three pending Free Trade…
Blog
FDA Overkill on Cigarette Packaging
Get ready to see nine sensationalistic images depicting the dangers of smoking on cigarette packs beginning September 2012. Rotted lungs and teeth, chest holes,…
Blog
Shedding Light on Light Bulbs — Don’t Count on the NYT
In its “Home and Garden” section yesterday, The New York Times did it again: in what should have been a straight-forward puff piece about…
Blog
Sen. Hatch Questions Illogic of Holding Three Trade Agreements Hostage to TAA
Consideration of the three pending trade pacts -- with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea -- presents a conundrum. The administration is saying that these Free…
Blog
Is the U.S. Serious About Trade and Economic Growth — Or About Currying Favor with Trade Unions?
Is the U.S. serious about trade or does the Obama administration just want to cater to union supporters and set up more obstacles for trade…
Blog
Is Trade Adjustment Assistance a Pre-Condition for Pending Trade Agreements?
Today, at the Senate Finance Committee’s hearing on the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the committee chairman, ranking Republican, and the U.S. Trade Representative’s…
Blog
Progress on Free Trade — With Strings Attached
Looks like there could finally be some progress on long-pending free trade agreements (FTAs). Yesterday U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said that the administration…
Blog
Biofuels Policy — Death and Disease Follow
The inestimable Indur Goklany has an important new report on biofuels and developing countries. “Could Biofuel Policies Increase Death and Disease in Developing Countries?”…
Blog
China Had a Quarterly Trade Deficit — And it was Hardly Noticed
Here’s a bit of news that didn’t get too much attention — China had a first quarter 2011 trade deficit. It’s the country’s first quarterly…
Blog
Cuts in Agricultural Subsidies Gain Support
“Farm Subsidies: Sacred Cows No More” is the headline of the WSJ April 9 article. Agricultural subsidies, in a period where budget cuts are…
Blog
U.S. Swipes at Colombia’s Sovereignty with Onerous Labor Requirements
AEI’s Claude Barfield posted an insightful comment on the new labor requirements the U.S. foisted on Colombia in connection with the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade…
Blog
Gail Giggles at Consumer Choice in the NYT
Gail Collins has a truly inane opinion piece in the NYT today, in which she excoriates those people -- Tea Partiers and libertarians --…
Blog
Rep. Levin Wants to Stall Trade Pact — Colombia Needs to Change its Laws, He Says
Okay -- another big roadblock for the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, and not surprisingly, it’s coming from Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.), ranking member on the…
Blog
Stop the Sweet Deal for Sugar, Says Senator Lugar
There's a great op-ed by Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) in The Washington Times today telling how Big Sugar’s sweet deal harms consumers, leads to job…
Blog
Vintage Friedman in CNBC Ad
This is a current CNBC ad — gasp — produced from a 1979 interview of Milton Friedman by Phil Donohue. Can hardly get a better…
Blog
Pressure Mounts for Three Free Trade Agreements to be Submitted
Bi-partisan pressure mounts for the Obama administration to move on long-pending free trade agreements (FTAs). At Senate Finance Committee hearings yesterday on the trade…
Blog
House Republicans Push for Fast Action on Three Pending Trade Pacts
The new House Republicans are pushing for fast action on the three pending free trade agreements (FTAs) -- with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama.
Blog
Defending Economic Freedom: Charles Koch in the WSJ
Blog
Bill Clinton Enters the Food vs. Fuel Debate Regarding Corn Ethanol
Another convert to the food vs. fuel debate on corn ethanol -- former President Bill Clinton. In his speech on Thursday before the U.S. Department…
Blog
U.S. Continues to Ignore Staunch Trade Partner and Ally Colombia — And Possible Consequences
As the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement languishes, the U.S. stands to lose some of its influence with that staunch and critical ally in South America.
Blog
Lowest Corn Reserves in 15 Years — Food Prices to Rise
The New York Times noted in an article yesterday that food prices are expected to rise this year as a result of significantly lower…
Blog
SUGAR Act Would Phase Out U.S. Sugar Program
Sweet news on the sugar front. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and newly elected Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) have introduced a bill to phase out…
Blog
What’s Expected on Trade in the State of the Union Address
In his State of the Union address tonight, President Obama will finally set out his agenda and timetable on three pending free trade agreements…
Blog
Junk Scientist’s Autism Research “An Elaborate Fraud,” Reports British Medical Journal
Yesterday the British Medical Journal found that Andrew Wakefield, who authored “studies” linking autism with measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines, had committed “an elaborate…
Blog
U.S. Blows Hard at Chinese Wind Power Subsidies
Well, the U.S. has taken it one step further — it has gone to the World Trade Organization for “consultations” about China’s green energy…
Blog
NPR Covers Corn Ethanol Boondoggle
NPR’s “Morning Edition” has finally caught on to the ethanol boondoggle. It’s doing a three-part series on ethanol that started yesterday. And it gets…
Blog
The Colombia FTA Deserves a Speedy Vote
President Obama needs to look beyond pushing only the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement to standing behind ratification of the other pending trade agreements with…
Blog
Lame Ducks Need Some Backbone to Let Ethanol Subsidy and Tariff Expire
What’s one of the easiest things to do in the lame duck session? Why, nothing — in relation to the 45-cents a gallon tax credit…
Blog
Anti-Earmarker Jeff Flake Gets the Nod for Appropriations; “Prince of Pork” Abdicates for Chairmanship
It looks like the anti-spending brigade will get some support on the powerful House Appropriations Committee — incoming Speaker of the House John Boehner…
Blog
Let Ethanol Tax Credit and Tariff Expire — Congress “Can Do Good Just by Doing Nothing”
CEI colleague Marlo Lewis skewers the ethanol tax credit and the tariff, due to expire at year-end. Lewis points out that letting the 45¢…
Blog
EPA at 40 — Doing an End-Run Around the Legislative Process
The Environmental Protection Agency is 40 years old. It came into being under a Republican president, Richard M. Nixon, and opened its offices on…
Blog
WTO: For Trade Imbalances, Use Value Added For a More Accurate Picture
The World Trade Organization’s annual report released today is well worth reading, not only for the data on recent trade flows, economic and unemployment…