As a result, CEI experts have encouraged and supported trade-enhancing policies and treaties over the years, including “fast-track” Trade Promotion Authority, specific trade deals, and multilateral efforts such as the Doha round of the World Trade Organization. We have opposed increased tariffs, attempts to increase regulation through trade deal language, and the trend toward bilateral rather than multilateral deals. In 2018, CEI experts were happy to contribute to the Initiative for Free Trade’s project to produce the first-of-its-kind “ideal” free trade agreement.
Featured Posts
Washington Examiner
Europe strikes back with chip subsidies to counter US and China
CEI’s Ryan Young is cited on Washington Examiner about chip subsidies: “I don’t think the U.S. has much to worry about involving [the European Chips…
The Washington Examiner
10% tariff, 100% bad idea
Former President Donald Trump recently pledged to enact a universal 10% tariff on all imports if he regains the presidency. His…
Blog
Carbon tariffs are all pain, no gain
Europe recently introduced a carbon tax. The proposed PROVE IT Act would lay the groundwork for one in the United States. Over in the…
Search Posts
Washington Examiner
Europe strikes back with chip subsidies to counter US and China
CEI’s Ryan Young is cited on Washington Examiner about chip subsidies: “I don’t think the U.S. has much to worry about involving [the European Chips…
The Washington Examiner
10% tariff, 100% bad idea
Former President Donald Trump recently pledged to enact a universal 10% tariff on all imports if he regains the presidency. His…
Blog
Carbon tariffs are all pain, no gain
Europe recently introduced a carbon tax. The proposed PROVE IT Act would lay the groundwork for one in the United States. Over in the…
The Economic Standard
Adam Smith on how trade makes us better people
Economists love efficiency. That is why most of them love free trade. Countries with relatively free trade also tend to be …
National Review
Protectionism without Sugarcoating
National Review cites CEI’s Iain Murray about protectionism: Iain Murray of the Competitive Enterprise Institute describes the U.S. sugar quotas as the “platonic form of…
Blog
Why Trump and Biden are wrong to sweat a trade deficit
Do trade deficits make American workers worse off? Trade deficits occur when a country imports more goods than it exports, which the U.S. has done…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Immense economic costs with Scott Lincicome
In this week’s episode we talk about central bank digital currencies, bankers backing off of ESG claims, avoiding the mistakes of…
Blog
Rep. Duncan Leads Letter Expressing Concern over Foreign Regulatory Overreach
I’ve written before about the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, its main antitrust regulator. It has already blocked one US company from taking over another…
Blog
Bad Trade Policy Still Bottling up Baby Formula
Scott Lincicome and Gabriella Beaumont-Smith brought us an update last week on the infant formula pipeline problems we’ve been seeing for the last…
News Release
CEI Launches “Eye on FTC” Campaign to Raise Awareness of Agency Overreach and Lack of Transparency
WASHINGTON—The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) launched a new “Eye on FTC” educational campaign today to raise awareness about overreach and a lack of…
News Release
CEI Releases Pro-Growth Regulatory Reform Agenda for the 118th Congress
Today the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) offered a set of important policy reforms for the 118th Congress to consider when it convenes in…
Products
Free to Prosper: Trade
Trade policy took a turn for the worse during the Trump administration, and the Biden administration has committed largely to the same course. Tariffs have…
Blog
Does Artificial Intelligence Have a Statist Bias?
I recently asked the ChatGPT AI to “write an essay critiquing the Biden administration’s trade policy.” This is what I got: The…
News Release
Amid Hurricane Power Outages, Biden Administration Waives Senseless Jones Act Shipping Restrictions: CEI Statement
Competitive Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Ryan Young praised the Biden administration for temporarily waiving shipping restrictions imposed by the 1920s era Jones Act. “The…
Blog
The Jones Act vs. Puerto Rico, Again
Puerto Rico is almost entirely without power after Hurricane Fiona. Right now, there is a ship just offshore, ready to help. It has…
Blog
The Founding Fathers and Free Trade
There is an ongoing small cottage industry of historical revisionism aimed at showing that America since its founding was friendly to protectionism and that this…
Blog
The European Union’s Crypto Protectionism Threatens Financial Freedom
Stablecoins, digital assets pegged to a financial asset like the U.S. dollar, are becoming increasingly popular around the globe. Some people use them as…
News Release
Senate-Passed Corporate Welfare “CHIPS” Bill Won’t Help U.S. Companies Out-Compete China
The Senate today passed the CHIPS+ Act, a bill that would hand over tens of billions of tax dollars to domestic production of semiconductors. CEI…
Blog
Former Trade Official Opposes Minor Tariff Relief
Now that former President Trump’s China tariffs are four years old, a mandatory review process is underway. President Biden has indicated he might lift…
Blog
China Tariffs: Will Inertia Win?
Former President Trump’s China tariffs came with a safeguard: They expire after four years unless an internal review finds them worth keeping. On trade issues,…
Blog
Yellen Proposes Capping Oil Prices? Not Quite
Cable news and Twitter are aflame with outrage today that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen proposed price caps for oil. Fortunately, the rumors are false.
Blog
Restating the Case for Free Trade
The case for free trade needs to be restated frequently. Politicians keep pushing the same protectionist policies, as though maybe this time the results will…
Blog
Trade, Mission Creep, and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework
President Biden announced this week a major economic agreement with a dozen countries in the Indo-Pacific region, to be called the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework…
Blog
Baby Formula and Regulatory Failure
A lot of people are blaming free markets for the baby formula shortage. As the economist Jagdish Bhagwati might say, the problem with this is…
News Release
Inflation Still 4x Higher than Target Rate, New Government Numbers Show
The inflation rate isn’t much changed from last month’s high figure, 8.3 percent compared to 8.5 percent, new government data shows. CEI Senior Fellow Ryan…
Blog
U.S. to Lift Tariffs against Ukraine for One Year: China Next?
In 2018, President Trump enacted a 25 percent tariff on Ukrainian steel, on what he claimed were national security grounds. They remained in place throughout…
Blog
Sorting Out Some Confusion on Trade and GDP
While inflation is the biggest economic problem right now, trade policy is another reason why GDP shrank last quarter. It is also a common…
Blog
The Updated Case for Free Trade
Trade is a core value of civilization. The very act of trade implies respect for people’s rights. Suppose you have something I want. I could…
Blog
Stablecoins Come of Age in Ukraine-Russia Conflict
Across the globe, people living under oppressive regimes are already familiar with stablecoins—digital assets pegged to a stable monetary value, usually the U.S. dollar. Now,…
News Release
CEI Experts React to President Biden’s State of the Union Address
President Joe Biden delivered his first State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress tonight. CEI policy experts weighed in on his…
Blog
Steel Tariffs against Japan Lifted, Kind of
President Biden is taking a small step toward tariff relief. Japan’s first 1.25 million metric tons per year of steel exports to the U.S.
Inside Sources
The America COMPETES Act Seeks to Counter China by Imitating It
Public approval of Congress stands at 18 percent. If you wonder why, just look at the America COMPETES Act, which passed the House of Representatives…
News Release
House Democrats’ China Bill Would Make the U.S Less Competitive and Harm Consumers
The House of Representatives is considering the America COMPETES Act this week, a bill described by sponsors as a “China competition bill.” The wide-ranging legislation…
Blog
The America COMPETES Act’s Outbound Investment Review Framework Threatens U.S. Global Economic Competitiveness
Earlier this week, the House of Representatives introduced a bill, the America COMPETES” Act (H.R. 4521; the backronym is for ‘‘America Creating Opportunities for…
Blog
The COMPETES Act Is a Bad Idea. Here’s What Congress Should Do Instead
The 2,912-page America COMPETES Act (H.R. 4521; the backronym is for ‘‘America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology, and Economic Strength’’) is the…
The Australian Institute of International Affairs
Why Westminster Must Reconsider the UK’s New Foreign Investment Review Framework
In early January, the National Security and Investment (NSI) Act became law, expanding the United Kingdom government’s power to block foreign investments for perceived security risks.
Forbes
What To Do Instead of the America COMPETES Act
As if $30 trillion in national debt isn’t isn’t plenty stimulus, here we go again with the spending, on science and technology this…
Voice of America
US Congress Considers Bills to Boost Competition with China
Voice of America cites Senior Fellow Ryan Young on how Congress is addressing China: Ryan Young, a senior fellow with the Competitive Enterprise Institute,…
Blog
Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority Is Becoming a Global Problem
When British supporters of Brexit talked of “global Britain,” they probably didn’t have in mind British bureaucrats dictating to the world how businesses should be…
Blog
Senate Shelves Build Back Better Spending Bill, For Now
The Senate will not vote on the Build Back Better (BBB) spending bill this year, though they might take it up again next year.
Blog
Can Regional Trade Agreements Replace the WTO?
Trade policy is in a bad place right now, with two consecutive protectionist administrations in the U.S. and the World Trade Organization (WTO) possibly damaged…
The Washington Times
Biden Administration Probe of Supply Chain Woes Slammed as ‘Demagoguery’
The Washington Times cites Research Fellow Sean Higgins and Senior Fellow Marlo Lewis on the current supply chain crisis: But researchers at the Competitive…
Blog
Court Strikes Down Trump Tariff: Precedent for Institution-Level Changes?
Pessimism reigns for trade liberalization in the short run, but there is fresh hope for the long run. A new court decision over solar panel…
The Washington Times
Economic Pressures Boost Thanksgiving Turkey Prices by 20%
The Washington Times cites Vice President for Strategy Iain Murray on Thanksgiving prices: Iain Murray, a senior analyst at the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute,…
Blog
Steel, Aluminum Tariffs to Remain Above Pre-Trump Levels
It is not asking much to undo President Trump’s doubling of U.S. tariffs, which are a major contributor to today’s supply network crisis. But apparently…
The Diplomat
AUKUS Is Only Half the Equation
The United States and the United Kingdom’s recent decision to expand their Asian security presence has the potential to deter China, but Washington and London…
Blog
The United States Should Oppose the EU’s Proposed Common Charger Regulation
The European Union (EU) wants to require all cell phone manufacturers to use a common charging device. According to European policy makers, if everyone…
National Review
Lessons of 20 Years of War
In his “Iron Curtain” speech after World War II, Winston Churchill remarked: There never was a war in all history easier to prevent by…
Letters
CEI and Other Organizations Urge Biden Administration to Prioritize Free Trade Agreements
Dear President Biden, On behalf of the undersigned groups, we urge you to pursue free-trade agreements that enhance America’s freedom, prosperity, and competitiveness. The administration…
Blog
UK’s Attempt to Block a Merger Between American Firms Could Cripple Innovation
As I explain in both an op-ed and regulatory comments submitted yesterday, the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK’s version…
Blog
Mexican Workers Deserve Secret Ballot Elections; So Do U.S. Workers.
Today, U.S. labor leaders applauded Mexican workers for getting rid of an allegedly corrupt union at a General Motors (GM) plant in Silao, in…
National Review
Back to Square One in the War on Terror
In time, the harrowing images from Afghanistan will disappear from television screens. Americans will debate the incompetence of the final withdrawal, which maximized the defeat,…
The Washington Examiner
Democrats’ Carbon Tariffs Would Hurt Consumers and Slow Recovery
There is a real danger that the world’s first carbon tariffs could be added to the $3.5 trillion spending bill making its way through Congress.
Blog
Carbon Tariffs Would Hurt Consumers, Slow Recovery
Over in the Washington Examiner, I take a look at the carbon tariff proposal that will likely be in the $3.5 trillion spending bill…
Blog
Green Protectionism on the Rise?
The $3.5 trillion budget proposal that the Democratic leadership in Congress is putting together will reportedly include the world’s first carbon tariffs, which are…
News Release
CEI Experts React to President Biden’s Wide-Ranging Executive Order on Competition
President Joe Biden signed an Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy today, which the White House claims is aimed at enhancing…
Blog
A Better Approach to Tariff Diplomacy
In diplomacy, carrots tend to be more effective than sticks. Yet, two consecutive administrations have used tariff threats to try to achieve their objectives. Former…
National Review
Are Tariffs the Right Response to Foreign Digital Taxes?
Last week’s G-7 meetings provided an opportunity to resolve the growing international tensions over tariffs. Simply removing the tariffs enacted by and against the…
News Release
US/EU Reach Limited Agreement on Aerospace Tariffs but Fall Short
The European Union and the United States eagerly announced today that they resolved their 17-year dispute over aerospace subsidies, but subsidies to Boeing and Airbus will remain…
National Review
Israel Has Every Right to Destroy Hamas
For more than 50 years, the diplomacy surrounding major outbreaks of Israeli–Arab violence has followed a standard progression. The United Nations Security Council goes into…
Blog
Steel Companies Lobby for Steel Tariffs, Biden to Double Lumber Tariffs
One of the first things President Biden should have done upon taking office was to eliminate the Trump tariffs. This would have provided potent economic…
USA Today
Buying American Is Harder Than It Sounds: Jeep Is A Good Example
USA Today cites Vice President for Policy Iain Murray on the “buy American” movement: “Buy American provisions have one effect above all – they…
National Review
Biden’s ‘Infrastructure’ Plan: If You Build It, You Will Pay
You and I come by road or rail. Economists travel on infrastructure,” Margaret Thatcher once told an audience — pillorying economists’ love of jargon…
Blog
The UK Should Beware of Future Restrictions against UK-EU Data Flows
The British government must beware of future challenges to the United Kingdom’s ability to transfer data to and from the European Economic Area (EEA) due…
Blog
Debate over Vaccination Passports Gathers Steam in Europe and United Kingdom
The concept of a “vaccination passport” was raised in the European Union (EU) early in the pandemic. EU documents show a timetable for discussion of…
Blog
U.S. Trade Representative Tai Should Rethink Keeping China Tariffs in Place
Over the weekend, The Wall Street Journal interviewed Katherine Tai, the new United States Trade Representative. She has a lot of work ahead of her…
News Release
FTC Nominee Khan’s Antitrust Views Will Have Negative Consequences for Consumers if Made Official Policy
Competitive Enterprise Institute experts reacted to today’s announcement the White House intends to nominate Lina Khan to be a Commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission,…
Blog
Some Good Tariff News
I’ve written before about the 17-year-long dispute between the United States and the European Union over Boeing and Airbus subsidies. Each jurisdiction has placed…
Blog
UK Court Ruling on Uber will Mean Fewer, More Expensive Rides, and Fewer Jobs
Today, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom ruled on an important question as to whether certain drivers who work with Uber are entitled to…
Blog
Priorities for Commerce Secretary Nominee Raimondo: Tariffs, TPA, Trade Agreements
President-Elect Biden will nominate Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo to be the next Commerce Secretary. She will soon be in a position to undo much…
Blog
Investor-State Dispute Settlement Claims Hold Steady During Pandemic: Reform Is Still in Progress and Is Still Desired
Companies take large risks when investing abroad, and countries have an important self-interest in attracting foreign investment. The Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism allows foreign…
Letters
CEI Joins ATR Leads Coalition Opposing OECD’s Digital Taxation Proposal
We, the undersigned 23 organizations, representing taxpayers and consumers across the globe, strongly urge you to oppose any and all attempts to curb international tax…
Blog
What to Expect from Biden’s Trade Policy: Fast Track, China, and Labor
Joe Biden supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in 2015, and organized labor has not forgotten. But there appears to be growing optimism among…
Blog
Changing Trends in Trade Legislation: Toward Limiting Executive Power?
There is no shortage of criticism of the Trump administration’s trade policy. The president and his administration have been digging deep into the toolbox…
News Release
Record GDP Numbers: Good News and Next Steps
Today’s GDP numbers are good news — but what policies will help people who still suffering and aid a fuller recovery? Ryan Young, CEI Senior Fellow:…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter Opposing Oil Tariffs
Dear Majority Leader McConnell: After a dozen extensions and nearly three decades on the books, it’s time to end the Production Tax Credit. The Production…
Blog
Tit-for-Tat Tariffs Don’t Work: Boeing and Airbus Show Why
A 16 year-long aerospace subsidies dispute between the United States and the European Union began another round this week. The U.S. claims that the EU’s…
Blog
Trade News: WTO Rules China Tariffs Violate Rules, Aluminum Tariffs Dropped, No Trade Deal with EU
Usually policy-related news slows down near elections; nobody wants to rock the boat. This has not been the case with trade policy. Three important stories…
News Release
WTO Rules Against Trump’s China tariffs, but the Problem Remains the Tariffs Themselves
The World Trade Organization ruled today that President Trump violated global trade rules by unilaterally imposing tariffs on over $350 billion worth of Chinese…
News Release
Trump Administration Backs Down on Tariffs on Canada Aluminum, But Long-Term Problems Unfixed
In another high stakes trade matter today, the Trump administration decided to back down from plans to impose tariffs on Canadian aluminum. Just before…
News Release
Report: #Neverneeded 1920 Jones Act Hinders Coronavirus Economic Recovery
A 100-year-old law that imposes restrictions on commercial shipping now stands as a barrier to economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and imposes unfair costs…
Study
Repeal or Reform the Jones Act
The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Tens of millions have lost their jobs. Unleashing the innovation and productivity…
Blog
Canadian Aluminum Tariff Increase is #NeverNeeded, Should Be Repealed Instead
President Trump on Thursday announced he will reimpose 10 percent aluminum tariffs against Canada. Originally enacted in 2018 on national security grounds, the tax was…
National Review
The Many Distortions of the Jones Act
Protectionism isn’t always bad. But sometimes protectionist measures are so poorly designed that they hurt everyone, including the intended the beneficiaries, and wind up benefiting America’s…
National Review
The Deep End of the Swamp
If you’ve never heard of the Jones Act, there’s a good reason. It stays mostly hidden in the deepest part of “the swamp” of America’s special-interest…
News Release
Report: Tariff Relief Would Help COVID-19 Recovery
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report proposes three plans Congress and the Trump administration can enact immediately to lift trade barriers in the way of…
Blog
New #NeverNeeded Paper: Remove or Reduce Tariffs
Trade barriers are an obvious #NeverNeeded candidate for removal during a pandemic and a recession. They make medical supplies scarcer and more expensive. They raise…
Study
Repeal #NeverNeeded Trade Barriers
The most important priorities during the coronavirus pandemic are keeping people safe and minimizing economic damage. Trade barriers are harming both priorities. This paper contains…
Blog
Managed Trade: USMCA Comes into Effect Today
The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) comes into effect today. USMCA’s policy changes are modest, and its economic impact will be small. But it sets a…
Blog
A Bright Spot for Tech on USMCA Day
Today the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement goes into effect. Despite its many flaws, it contains a beneficial provision related to the tech sector. The language of…
News Release
100 Year-Old Jones Act Shipping Restrictions an “America Last” Policy
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report details extensive damage inflicted by a 100 year old law called the “Jones Act,” which requires any ship traveling…
Study
America Last
The Jones Act requires any ship traveling between two U.S. points to be U.S.-manufactured, -owned, -flagged, and -crewed. This heavy-handed protectionist measure was enacted in 1920…
Blog
Supreme Court Declines to Hear Steel Tariff Case: Time for Congress to Act
President Trump’s steel tariffs were intended to boost U.S. manufacturing. They backfired to the point where a group of steel-using industries sued to stop the…
Blog
Trump Defers Tariff Payments for Struggling Businesses: A Good Start, More Needed
President Trump has deferred selected tariff payments for companies experiencing coronavirus-related hardship. It came after more than two weeks of starts, stops, denials, and reversals.
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter on Taiwan Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the Republic of China
Dear Mr. President: We are writing to encourage you to initiate negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) with the Republic of China (Taiwan). Such…
Blog
Trump Administration Suspends Tariffs, but Not Confusion, for Three Months
On Friday evening, the Trump administration announced it would stop collecting all tariff revenue for three months, effective immediately. In ordinary times, the news would…
National Review
Pandemics, Stimulus, and the Limitations of Flash Policy
Over the past two weeks, America has faced the onset of a pandemic, an oil-price war, and a stock-market crash. In the face of these…
Blog
Liberate to Stimulate 2020: Let’s Start with Trade
The past two weeks have seen a volatile market owing to concerns over coronavirus, which suggests an economic downturn could be on the cards. The…
Blog
VIDEO: Trade Is Not a Four-Letter Word
Former Export-Import Bank Chairman Fred Hochberg recently made an appearance at the American Enterprise Institute to promote his new book, Trade Is Not a Four…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter on EB-5 Reform
Dear Chairman Graham and Ranking Member Feinstein: On behalf of the undersigned organizations, we write to support the Immigrant Investor Program Reform Act, S.2778,…
