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 pivot to Section 338 for tariffs poses problems for economy, separation of powers
Citing Section 338 of the 1930 Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, President Donald Trump on July 20 announced steep 50 percent tariffs on Canadian goods,…
Blog
The exemptions in Trump’s latest Brazil tariffs reveal contradictions at the heart of pro-tariff trade policy
Last week, the Trump administration imposed a new 25 percent Section 301 tariff on many imports from Brazil. The administration argued that the…
News Release
Trump trade threats over Canada wildfires should trigger clawback of trade power by Congress
On social media today, President Trump threatened to impose extra tariffs on Canada, citing the government’s “willful negligence” in quelling massive wildfires currently causing…
Search Posts
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…
Blog
A Tsunami is Not a Stimulus
Tragedy struck Japan this morning. It will be some time before we know just how many lives the tsunami took, and how much damage was…
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
Morning Media Summary
Tech: Windows Intune hits the street March 23: “Microsoft said today that the final version of its Windows Intune cloud-delivered PC management…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: Gmail accidentally resetting accounts, years of correspondence: “If you've got a working Gmail account, you might want to back it up every so…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: London Stock Exchange Hit by Technical Glitch: The London Stock Exchange suffered a second embarrassing system glitch in a week on Friday…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: Google launches Apps certification program for IT pros: “Google has launched a program to certify that staffers at Google Apps resellers have specific…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: Amazon Rolls Out Instant Streaming for ‘Prime’ Members: “Amazon.com (AMZN: 180.45, 0.00, 0.00%) on Tuesday announced its highly-rumored video-streaming service for customers subscribing…
Blog
Egyptian Military Seeks to Reverse Economic Reforms
The military government that replaced Egyptian ruler Hosni Mubarak is now moving to reverse recent reforms that gave Egypt solid economic growth in the last several…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: Meet the Android Malware That Sucks Your Bandwidth: “Mobile malware is still a fringe development, but it’s not inconceivable that you’d run…
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
Morning Media Summary
Tech: ‘Watson’ the computer creams human ‘Jeopardy!’ champs: “An IBM computer creamed two human champions on the television game show “Jeopardy!” today in…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: Computer crushes the competition on ‘Jeopardy!’: “The computer outsmarted its human competition in Game 1 of the Man vs. Machine competition on…
Daily Caller
Obama budget: Life is short, eat dessert first
Blog
Mubarak’s Exit Lifts U.S. Stocks
As Egypt settles into a cautious detente, stock markets around the world recover from their Jan 25 dip. As Mubarak ceded the presidency Friday,…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: Google Launches Site-Blocking Extension Against Content Farms: “Aimed at stripping search results of pages from “low-quality” sites, a new Google Chrome extension…
Blog
Hold the Sizzle: Chipotle, Immigrant Employees Get ICE’d
Chipotle boasts that it offers “food with integrity,” but the popular restaurant chain may want to consider an addendum in light of its recent actions:…
Blog
Morning Media Summary
Tech: FTC Warns About Public Wi-Fi Hotspot Dangers: “The OnGuardOnline.gov website, operated by the Federal Trade Commission, Justice Department, Homeland Security, Commerce Department…
