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
The Washington Times
Retail industry projects surge in post-Christmas regifting and returns
The Washington Times quoted CEI’s expert on regifting in the retail industry The problem is that regifting ‘can suggest a certain laziness on the part…
Blog
Nice dock. Big shame if you modernized it, Trump warns ports
President Trump has signaled that if East Coast dockworkers go on strike, he will back them instead of the ports. This increases the odds that…
Washington Examiner
Trump will need to hire new federal workers for trade war, former Cabinet member says
The Washington Examiner CEI’s expert on how Trump’s trade policy might be at odds with the DOGE mission. Ryan Young, senior economist at the libertarian Competitive…
Search Posts
Blog
British Social Workers Tear Apart Happy Families, Seize Children from Loving Parents
In Britain, social workers and child-protective services are tearing apart happy families, and seizing children from loving parents "for no good reason," notes Christopher…
Blog
Stimulus Dollars Funded Mexican Coffin Industry through “Operation Fast and Furious”
Not content with just using American tax dollars to subsidize foreign "green jobs" that replaced U.S. jobs, the Obama administration used stimulus dollars…
Citation
Business Leaders & Conservatives Agree That E-Verify Is a Disaster for America’s Economy
Blog
Keeping the “Free” in Free Trade
Yesterday, Senate Republicans successfully blocked a Finance Committee meeting to consider free trade agreements (FTA) with Korea, Colombia, and Panama. The reason? President Obama…
Blog
Setting the Record Straight: Trade Creates Wealth
In his article “…
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
Stealing You Blind: The Fate of Greece
Rioters have taken to the streets in the Greek capital of Athens. While not as unusual an occurrence as it is in Athens, Georgia,…
Op-Eds
Immigration: The DREAM Act Is Not A Nightmare
Today Senate Democrats are holding hearings about the controversial DREAM Act. Last week, Senate Democrats also introduced a Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill that entirely…
Comment
CEI Submits Comments on the Proposed Inspection System for Catfish
Full Document Available as a PDF The Competitive Enterprise Institute…
Blog
CEI Podcast for June 23, 2011: Bunker Fuel
Bunker fuel is a heavy fuel used by large ships around the world. Land Use and Transportation Policy Analyst Marc Scribner looks at new environmental…
Blog
What Really Makes “Postcards from Hell”
Foreign Policy just ran another “Postcards from Hell” feature detailing the worst of the worst from their “Failed States Index.” It’s worth a look.
Blog
The Few, The Proud, The Greek Liberals (It’s Lonely Being a Libertarian in Greece)
As the crisis in the eurozone continues to spiral out of control, I’ve sometimes thought about what must be going through the heads of…
The Hill
The Need for an Immigration System Worthy of America
Blog
Government-Subsidized Murder: Cannibal Ph.D Candidate Studies Homicide at Taxpayer Expense
"While pursuing a PhD in “homicide studies” at the British taxpayers’ expense, a man with a long history of criminal violence became a…
The Hill
The Exceptional Children Of Skilled Immigrants
Much of the debate over increasing legal immigration and work visas, such as the H-1B visa for highly skilled workers, has centered on the…
Blog
Obama Administration Votes Against England, Supporting Argentine-Backed Resolution on the Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are English-speaking and have been part of the United Kingdom for generations. Although Argentina unsuccessfully tried to conquer them in 1982, they…
Blog
Failures of Auto Bailouts Hidden by Deceptive Accounting and Bogus Jobs Figures
Mounting evidence shows that the auto bailouts weren't worth it. They have been far more costly, and less successful, than claimed, as even liberal…
Blog
Top 3 Myths about Immigration
According to Ben Powell, the three most common immigration myths are that immigrants are a drag on the economy, they steal our jobs, and that…
Blog
Liberalize High-Skilled Immigration
Over at the Daily Caller, Alex Nowrasteh and I tell the story of Jeffrey Lin. He is a Ph.D student at CalTech who holds three…
Daily Caller
Immigration Reform Can Jumpstart Economy
Jeffrey is a talented electrical engineering PhD student at CalTech. He already holds three patents. One of his inventions may cure glaucoma. It is…
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
Trade Week: Why I Learned to Hate Civilization
When I first played the strategy game Civilization -- on an Amiga computer in the early 1990s -- I was instantly hooked. I was a…
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
Trade Week: Fair Trade Isn’t Fair
As I passed by the Commerce Department on my way in to work this morning, I saw the bureaucrats had erected a banner for…
Blog
Fighting for its Life: Absolute Poker Makes a Deal with Feds
In 2002, four fraternity brothers from the University of Montana founded an online gambling platform that became one of the most popular online casinos for…
Blog
Greenland Flourishes Due to Global Warming and Climate Change
Alarmists have been decrying the effects of global warming on Greenland for years, even though Greenland was greenest during the Medieval Warm Period, and Greenland’s Vikings,…
Blog
Temporarily Buoyed by Japanese Earthquake, General Motors Looks for Profit Overseas
"GM sees China as a road to profit," reports the Washington Post today. "GM last year sold more cars in China than in the…
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…
News Release
Obama Gives Half-Hearted Speech on Immigration Reform
Washington, D.C., May 10, 2011 — The Competitive Enterprise Institute is cautiously optimistic about President Obama’s call for comprehensive immigration reform. Some of his…
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
Free Trade Agreements Don’t Kill Jobs
Over at the Daily Caller, I look at employment data and find out that the labor force has grown by 23 million people since NAFTA…
Blog
Free Trade: A Step Towards Revitalizing the Economy
According to Chris Frates’ article this morning in Politico, After years of wrangling, labor and business groups are gearing up for an epic showdown…
Daily Caller
Free Trade Agreements Don’t Kill Jobs
The U.S. is slowly working towards free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea. After years of wrangling, they might even pass this…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 170: Kinder Eggs
Kinder eggs are a type of candy that enjoys worldwide popularity. They are also illegal in the United States.
Blog
Washington Post’s Royal Class Snobbery Against Middletons
Thanks Iain, for your kind comments on my Wall Street Journal op-ed celebrating the Middleton's entrepreneurship and for the great info on how…
Blog
CEI Podcast for April 28, 2011: High-Speed Rail
Land Use and Transportation Policy Analyst Marc Scribner looks at China's experience with high-speed rail, and finds that it may not be a very good…
Blog
Obama Subsidizes Job-Killing Outsourcing, While Attacking Job-Creating Outsourcing
In his 2008 campaign, Obama demagogued about “outsourcing,” but his own policies have outsourced thousands of American jobs, at taxpayer expense, as I…
Blog
Ideologies Undermine Attorney-Client Relationship, National Sovereignty, and Protection Against Crime
At the Washington Examiner, I discuss the implications for the attorney-client relationship of a law firm’s decision to dump a client after signing…
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
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
Constipated Colombia Pact
Pres. Obama has made expanding U.S. exports a centerpiece of his economic plan. In his January State of the Union Address, he noted that "95%…
Blog
ReasonTV video on Protectionism at the Smithsonian
ReasonTV just produced an eye-opening video regarding how easily politicians can utilize rhetoric to create economically absurd policies. In the video below, Bernie Sanders works…
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…
News Release
Sen. Lugar’s Bill to Repeal U.S. Sugar Program to Benefit Consumers, Economy, Developing Countries
Contact: Christine Hall, 202.331.2258 March 30, 2011, Washington, D.C. – Legislation introduced today by Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) marks a bold step towards repealing the…
Blog
March Madness
In the closing days of March, not only are sports fans a bit crazy, so also are the electorate. Consider the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg,…
Blog
Obama’s Support of Brazil
President Obama was in Brazil over the weekend: “The United States doesn’t simply recognize Brazil’s rise; we support it enthusiastically,” Obama said in Brasilia,…
Blog
High-Speed Rail Follies: International Edition
Over at the excellent NewGeography.com, Wendell Cox has an article about the battle over high-speed rail investment in Britain. As we've seen in the…
Blog
America Doesn’t Need More College Graduates at Taxpayer Expense
President Obama says that “the best economic policy is one that produces more college graduates.” No doubt this is best for colleges, which have been…
