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. CEI continues to make the case for free trade in the face of increased bipartisan hostility to the idea.
CEI’s experts also work with like-minded colleagues abroad to oppose harmful initiatives, such as working with British colleagues to stop that country’s competition agency from blocking mergers between American firms based on speculative reasoning.
Featured Posts
News Release
Trump Administration Assertions in Supreme Court Tariff Hearing Lack Limiting Principle
Today, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the legality of President Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to justify the…
Blog
Stop artificially increasing demand for rare earths
Trade wars with China over rare earth minerals have sparked a number of policy responses, ranging from good ideas like streamlining the permitting process…
News Release
Inflation increased 0.3 percent in September, higher prices still sticking around: CEI analysis
September saw an inflation increase of 0.3 percent across all sectors, in line with economists’ predictions. CEI senior economist Ryan Young says today’s…
Search Posts
Blog
Regulation of the Day 89: Purple Dye
Modern innovations such as synthetic dyes, the Minnesota Vikings, and purple M&Ms have taken away purple’s exotic reputation. But no worry. Federal regulators are doing…
Blog
Bringing on the clowns at Copenhagen
I was intrigued with a reference in Wes Pruden’s Washington Times column today that the Copenhagen COP15 delegate from Tuvalu, weeping while pleading for…
Blog
CEI Weekly: Sarbox in Court, EPA Ruling on Gases, and Copenhagen
CEI weekly is a compilation of articles and blogs from CEI's staff. This week features coverage on Sarbanes-Oxley's first day in the Supreme Court. This…
Op-Eds
Immigration Limits Don’t Protect Us
Patrick J. Buchanan’s "Halting immigration would be an instant stimulus package" (Dec. 9) blithely ignores economic reality when he states that a moratorium on…
Blog
GW alarmists continue their exploitation of children
This, I think, has to go down as one of the creepiest “editorials” written by global warming alarmists recently. Clive Hamilton, ABC News in…
Blog
Don’t Worry about Trade Deficits
I run an ongoing trade deficit with my local grocery store. I import food from them every week. They have never purchased a thing from…
Blog
CEI Weekly: Climate-Gate Continues
CEI weekly is a compilation of articles and blogs from CEI's staff. This week features the continued coverage of ClimateGate, the leaked email scandal, on…
Blog
ClimateGate gets even more bizarre
ClimateGate is serious. When prominent climate scientists fudge results, refuse FOIA requests, take steps to restrict publication of dissident views, etc., it’s serious business,…
Blog
Following the scientific method: an example
Experiments in science that don’t reinforce scientists’ hypotheses can be vitally important in understanding complex systems. Serious scientists don’t fudge the results or hide…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 77: Banning Toys in Happy Meals
Roberto Zabrido, a government official in Spain, is “adamant that the Happy Meal and its ilk pose a risk.” The solution? Legislation!…
Heartland
Stimulus Funding for In-Flight Broadband
Blog
Cap and Trade Takes a Big Hit in Australia
Breaking news: At a meeting of the Liberal Party’s Members of Parliament today, Malcolm Turnbull was turned out as Leader and replaced by Tony Abbott…
Blog
Injustice Delayed
Tomorrow, December 1st marks the day when banks and other credit processing companies would have had to be in full compliance with Unlawful Internet Gambling…
Blog
CEI Weekly: Unearthed E-Mails Point to Data Manipulation
CEI weekly is a compilation of articles and blogs from CEI's staff. This week features the release of leaked emails suggesting that renowned climate researchers…
Blog
The Little People of the Superstate
Almost like answering Henry Kissinger’s famous question–Who do I call if I want to talk to Europe?–the 27 states of the EU have selected the…
Blog
Illegal Immigration: Make it Legal
The Boston Globe’s Jeff Jacoby wrote a wonderful column yesterday that highlights the inconsistent stance of many conservatives when it comes to immigration.
Blog
Healthcare Bill Advances in Senate, Despite Receiving Failing Grade from Health Experts; Democrats Block Filibuster in Party-Line Vote
The healthcare bill is on the verge of passing the Senate, despite the fact that it has received a failing grade from healthcare experts like…
Blog
CEI Weekly: CEI Starts Gore Debate Fundraiser
CEI weekly is a compilation of articles and blogs from CEI's staff. This week features the start of CEI's Pledge-a-Dollar-to-Debate Campaign. The campaign's goal is…
Blog
Gun Control Laws Empower Pirates and Terrorists!
As John Lott has so effectively demonstrated time and time again, widespread citizen gun possession is an effective way of increasing public safety.
Blog
Stimulus Package Creates Imaginary Jobs, Destroys Jobs in the Real World
President Obama’s $800 billion stimulus package creates imaginary jobs, while destroying ones in the real world. Billions from the stimulus…
Blog
Mixing trade and global warming — a recipe for disaster
Oh dear! Staunch trade proponent Fred Bergsten of the Peterson Institute is in bed with radical trade opponent Lori Wallach of Public Citizen in…
Blog
CEI Weekly: Celebrating the Fall of the Berlin Wall
CEI weekly is a compilation of articles and blogs from CEI's staff. This week features the commemoration of the fall of the Berlin Wall by…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 71: Waistlines
In Japan, it is illegal for men to have a waist larger than 33.5 inches. The limit for women is 35.4 inches. Those in violation…
Newsletter
Taxing Energy, Cell Phone Health Scare and Carbon Tariffs
The Senate Finance Committee holds a hearing on cap and trade legislation. Concerns grow over an alleged link between cell phone use and brain tumors.
Blog
Baucus wants border measures in climate bill
Uh-oh. Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana) is raising the stakes on a U.S. climate bill by endorsing the idea of some sort of tariff on…
Blog
Unemployment Skyrockets: “U.S. now beating European unemployment rates”
Unemployment is now higher in the U.S. than in Europe, reports the Washington Post. “The official U.S. unemployment rate, reported last Friday, now stands…
Blog
Twenty Years have Passed: The Fall of the Berlin Wall
On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall came crashing down. Today marks the twentieth anniversary of that great day – one of the greatest in…
Blog
Soldier Kills 13 in Mass Shooting at Fort Hood: Political Correctness and Gun Control Cited by Critics
A Muslim solder, Nidal Hasan, shot dead 13 people at Fort Hood yesterday. Hasan had earlier exhibited extremist, anti-American propensities, including applauding terrorist…
Blog
Obama One Year Later — A Legacy of Lies and Broken Promises
It’s been a year since the president was elected, and he’s already piled up an impressive list of lies and broken promises. The broken promises…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 68: Ironing Tables
At HPI's request, the International Trade Administration will continue to add anti-dumping duties to the price of its competitors' Chinese-made ironing tables. Sorry, consumers.
Newsletter
Cybersecurity, Tariffs and Union Elections
The Department of Homeland Security opens a new operations center to battle cyber attacks. The federal government continues to add tariffs to inexpensive consumer goods…
Blog
Recession Over? Don’t Hold Your Breath
There is a clear political incentive for Geithner and others to make efforts to convince us that this economic slump is over. It is unfortunate…
Blog
Lomborg Strikes Again
Some people want to cure malaria by reducing carbon emissions. Others want to cure it with mosquito nets, and better health care and sanitation. Which…
Blog
Honduras Agreement Did Not Promise Return of Authoritarian Ex-President, Contrary to Earlier Press Reports
The small country of Honduras did not agree to return its authoritarian ex-president to power after all. Press reports said it did, but The…
Blog
Under U.S. pressure, impoverished Honduras may allow authoritarian ex-president to return to power
Under U.S. pressure, Honduras’s leader has reportedly agreed to return to power its authoritarian ex-president, Manuel Zelaya, in exchange for an end to…
Blog
Senator seeks to cover up report showing Honduras acted legally in removing authoritarian ex-president
The Obama administration and congressional allies like Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) are seeking to silence government lawyers who point out their mistakes and misinterpretations of…
Blog
Obama Signs Hate-Crimes Bill Into Law; Critics Say It Circumvents Constitutional Safeguards Against Double Jeopardy
Today, President Obama signed into law a bill that will dramatically expand the federal hate crimes law, enabling prosecutors to bring federal charges against…
Blog
Sweden’s CO2 Labeling: Deceptive Advertising?
A quick point to add to Fran Smith's post on Sweden's experiment in labeling food and menus with carbon footprints: don't read too much into…
Blog
Hate Crimes Bill Passes, Eroding Civil Liberties and Double Jeopardy Safeguards
Yesterday, Congress approved a measure to dramatically expand the existing federal hate crimes law, by adding it to an unrelated defense appropriations bill. The…
Blog
Keeping Priorities Straight
Bjørn Lomborg, head of the Copenhagen Consensus, brings some much-needed common sense to the global warming debate. Reporting from Vanuatu, he finds that many locals…
Blog
Obama Accepts “Blasphemy” Exception to Free Speech
In USA Today, liberal law professor Jonathan Turley is criticizing the Obama administration for endorsing a “blasphemy” exception to free speech: “Around the…
Blog
Hot time in EU
The first half of Fall 2009 was a busy season in European politics. On September 27, the general elections took place in Germany. The results…
Blog
Surprising comments on NYT article on climate treaty
Today’s New York Times carries an article, “Hopes fade for comprehensive climate treaty.” It’s not that important an article about the lead-up to Copenhagen. …
Blog
Bill Gates Says Africa Needs GMOs
On Friday, Bill Gates announced at the World Food Summit in Des Moines that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation would be redoubling its efforts…
Blog
Defending free trade: the pending FTAs
The pending U.S. Free Trade Agreements with South Korea, Panama, and Colombia are languishing in limbo, despite the fact that all three agreements will improve…
Blog
New Version of Obama Health-Care Plan Relies on Imaginary Savings, Costs More Than $2 Trillion, and Will Explode Federal and State Budget Deficits
Health-care “reform” always costs more than predicted, as ObamaCare provisions have at the state level. So the claim that the new, cheaper version…
Blog
Silencing Criticism through Libel Law
The physicist turned science journalist Simon Singh has been sued in a UK court and, this past summer, found liable for libel for an April…
Blog
Senators Lindsey Graham and John Kerry: Yes We Can (Raise Your Energy Prices and Send Jobs Abroad)
Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) published a curious op-ed in Sunday’s New York Times titled, “Yes We Can (Pass Climate Legislation).” …
Blog
Nobel Prize “Gift” Double Standard
Drug companies are apparently forbidden from offering freebies to doctors in certain liberal states like Massachusetts and Vermont, under the theory that doctors’ loyalty…
Blog
Best article on Obama’s Nobel — Wash Post’s Cohen
Here’s Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen’s take this morning on the Nobel Prize announcement. It’s too good to excerpt: In a stunning announcement,…
Blog
President Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize
President Obama is in a prime position to work wonders for the cause of peace. He can institute free trade in America. Trade is the…
Blog
Precisely Backwards
Few things are more taxing than our elected officials’ economic illiteracy. How sad that visiting a wonderful country like ours may soon be one of…
Blog
Supreme Court Confronts Free Speech, Animal Cruelty, Gun Rights, Violent Crime, and National Sovereignty Issues
The Supreme Court is back in session. Today, it is hearing a challenge to a federal law banning depictions of cruelty to animals…
Blog
Corporate Human Rights?
Over at the Detroit News, Hans Bader and I explain why corporations have human rights despite not being human. The reason why? Transaction costs.
Blog
World’s largest country reports first swine flu death
Six months into the swine flu outbreak China, with a population of over 1.3 billion or a fifth of the word’s population, has just…
Blog
Unemployment Rises to 26-Year High of 9.8%; Obama’s Policies Worsen Unemployment and Credit Crunch
Unemployment has risen to 9.8 percent, a 26-year high. That’s much higher than the Obama administration predicted unemployment would rise, if Congress had refused…
Blog
Stimulus Packages Don’t Work; Obama’s $800 Billion Stimulus Will Shrink the Economy
“Stimulus” packages that increase government spending don’t work, notes Harvard economist Robert J. Barro in the Wall Street Journal. The administration claimed that Obama’s…
Blog
Overpaid Bureaucrats Expand in Number and Pay
Thanks to the $800 billion stimulus package, and other huge government spending increases, the number of federal and state employees is projected to increase massively.
Blog
The Magic of Numbers
Is it really easier to work in groups or is it just a way to shift responsibility? This question is relevant after the recent summit…
Heartland
As Deficit Rises, So Too Does Number of Federal Employees
Thanks to the $800 billion stimulus package, and other huge government spending increases, the number of federal and state employees is projected to increase…
Blog
7-Eleven serves up Big Gulp of Big Government to credit card consumers
Tomorrow, 7-Eleven Inc. and other big retail chains will hit Capitol Hill to offer Congress members and their staffs a supersize serving of hypocrisy. Retailers,…
Blog
It’s Complicated
Journalists have a tendency to present overly-simple explanations of current events that often turn out to be false. Part of it is due to the…
Blog
Obama Slaps Unconstitutional Gag Order on Critic of His Health Care Plan
While Obama ally ACORN attempts to gag whistleblowers who exposed its role in a recent scandal, the Obama administration is trying to gag…
Blog
Hard-Left Obama Policies Draw Criticism for Undermining Democracy, Security, and the Rule of Law
In his 2008 campaign, Barack Obama talked a lot about “bipartisanship,” but in office, he has governed from the far left, on both domestic and…
Blog
Funny, That
An article in today's New York Times laments the difficulty of "building momentum for an international climate treaty at a time when global temperatures have…
Blog
Obama Speech to the UN: The Data
Myron has already pointed out how most of what the President claimed were the threats from global warming are exaggerated. Here’s the data to…
Blog
Finding Something to Praise in Obama’s Speech Today
While this speech is mostly hogwash, I am surprised and delighted to be able to find one thing to praise in it: Later this…
Blog
Obama Speech to the UN
President Barack Obama’s speech on global warming to the United Nations today is based on fantasy. Here are some quotes from the speech followed by…
Blog
Chevron Plaintiff Lawyer’s Least Favorite Writer
In Forbes yesterday, New York lawyer Steven Donziger, consultant attorney for Ecuadorian plaintiffs in the suit against Chevron, criticizes my article,…
Blog
Democratic Governor Criticizes Deficit-Exploding Obama Health-Care Plan; Middle Class Faces Huge Health and Global-Warming Tax Hikes
Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen (D) is criticizing Obama’s health-care plan as “the mother of all unfunded mandates,” saying it will force states to spend…
Blog
Firing Blanks on FOIA Part II
In his update to his post, Declan McCullagh notes an objection by the Center for American Progress: The fourth objection is the most compelling.
Blog
Obama Wants to Extend PATRIOT Act
One may be a Republican and the other a Democrat, but make no mistake. Bush and Obama are two peas in a pod.
Blog
Another Hoover on trade?
President Obama’s slapping of tariffs on tires imported from China is the latest in a series of protectionist moves by the U.S. that threaten the…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 50: Tires from China
The burden is on tariff supporters to explain why they think people who live in one country are more deserving of economic opportunity than people…
Blog
Scientist Who Saved a Billion Lives Dies; Congress Blocks Reform of Law Based on Junk Science
Norman Borlaug, the scientist who saved a billion lives by fathering the Green Revolution, died Saturday at the age of 95. His work…
Blog
The Man Who Fed the World
Norman Borlaug was an American agricultural scientist and plant breeder whose work sparked what is now known as the Green Revolution. He was recognized with…
Blog
Do Corporations Have Human Rights?
Intel’s defense in its EU antitrust case has taken the surprising line that the company’s human rights were violated. Over at Real Clear Markets, CEI…
Blog
New Paper Shows Staggering Cost to Americans of Waxman-Markey
There’s a new cost:benefit study from New York University Law School’s Institute for Public Integrity that, its authors claim, shows that, “From almost…
Heartland
Stimulus Package Forces States to Raise Taxes
The federal government’s $800 billion stimulus package, which failed to cut unemployment, is now forcing states and local governments to raise taxes. The Wall…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 47: Irish Potatoes
It is bad policy to keep perfectly good food off the market because of its shape, especially during times of recession and high food prices.
Blog
‘The Times’ it is a changing
On Saturday, The Times of London published a news article under the headline "Organic food is a waste of money". The hard-0copy print edition of…
Blog
Racist, Communist, America-Bashing Obama Adviser Resigns, Over Wacky 9/11 Conspiracy Theory
Obama’s racist, communist, America-bashing Green Jobs Czar, Van Jones, has resigned after revelations that he was a 9/11 “Truther,” who believed that George Bush…
Blog
UN Declares Dictator Fidel Castro a “World Hero”
The UN has declared Fidel Castro, the longtime Communist dictator of Cuba, the “World Hero of Solidarity.” Castro killed thousands and thousands…
Blog
CEI Weekly: CEI’s 9/12 Intellectual Ammunition Workshop
CEI Weekly is a compilation of articles and blogs from CEI's staff. This week features CEI's workshop for the 9/12 March on D.C., and a…
Blog
India’s CO2 emissions to triple by 2030
India and China talk the Al Gore talk of climate Armageddon and the necessity for urgent action — yet their emissions keep going up and…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 46: Chemical Weapons
If your company exports chemical weapons, make sure you keep good records. Every year, on company letterhead, you have to list ten things for the…
Blog
Obama Imposes Sanctions on Impoverished Nation of Honduras, Despite Loss of Legal Basis for Doing So
The Obama Administration formally cut off aid to the impoverished nation of Honduras today, and announced other impending sanctions, to pressure the country to…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 45: Wooden Crates
Even the humble wooden crate cannot escape the government’ watchful regulatory eye.
Blog
Obama’s Sanctions Cause Suffering, Malnutrition, and Unemployment in Honduras
Earlier, I wrote about how the Obama Administration has imposed sanctions on the people of Honduras, such as blocking travel to the U.S.
Blog
The EU’s Silly Ban of the 100-Watt Bulb
Starting this week, it will be illegal to make or import 100-watt light bulbs in the European Union. And for what? New Scientist reporter…
Blog
Will Support for Cap-and-Trade Energy Tax Melt Away? It’s Costly and Won’t Help the Environment
In the name of cutting greenhouse gases, the House passed a cap-and-trade carbon tax scheme backed by the Obama Administration in June. But the bill…
Blog
Video Evidence Suggests Chevron Lawsuit Riddled With Corruption, Santacruz Comments on the Case
A major scandal has arisen in the biggest environmental lawsuit in history - the $27 billion lawsuit against Chevron oil company brought by a lawyer…
Blog
Obama to Cut Off Aid to Honduras, Based on Legal Mistake and Misreading of the Law
The Obama Administration is about to cut off aid to Honduras, one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. Earlier, the Obama Administration…
Heartland
Obama Keeps Lying About Health Care, Even After Being Caught
You just can’t trust President Obama’s claims about his health-care plan. He keeps on lying even after he is caught lying and his lies…
Blog
Obama Punishes Small Country for Court Ruling Refusing to Reinstate Bullying Ex-President and Would-Be Dictator
The Obama Administration has decided to block travel by the people of Honduras to the United States to punish their country for its Supreme…
Blog
Germanic Hoards
The old central powers (Germany, Austria, Hungary) seem to have come together again in opposition to plans to phase out incandescent light bulbs in…
Blog
More Legal Experts Say ObamaCare Is Unconstitutional
More legal experts are questioning the constitutionality of ObamaCare. In today’s Washington Post, two former Justice Department lawyers, David Rivkin and Lee Casey, argue that…
Blog
Bank Robbers for Transparency!
The news that the Federal Government has forced UBS to give up the details of 4000 of its customers’ transactions has other financial institutions…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 36: Buying American
The $787,000,000,000 stimulus contains a provision requiring the Department of Homeland Security to buy american textiles. Basically, that means TSA uniforms will go up in…
Blog
UBS Deal Only a Partial Victory for the Feds
Today, after a long and protracted battle between the U.S. and Swiss government, Swiss bank UBS AG agreed to turn over the names of at…
