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
Blog
No Escape: SUVs don’t fit Vietnam’s roads or its market
This year marks 30 years of America’s diplomatic relationship with Vietnam. In that time, both nations have worked together on everything from joint economic ventures…
The Hill
5 things to know about the latest inflation report
The Hill cited CEI’s expert on Trumps tariffs and inflation Additionally, many of Trump’s tariffs apply to component parts rather than finished consumer goods. The…
Blog
America targets Korea with illegal tariffs, strengthens China
President Donald Trump is in the process of imposing a 25 percent tariff rate on South Korean and Japanese imports to the United States. This…
Search Posts
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CEI Weekly: Senate Defends EPA Power Grab
CEI weekly is a compilation of articles and blogs from CEI's staff. This week features the vote in the Senate on the Murkowski resolution that…
Blog
Obama Fires Inspector General Who Uncovered Fraud, and Honors Defrauder Instead
Earlier, President Obama fired the inspector general for the AmeriCorps program after he uncovered fraud by Obama crony Kevin Johnson. (Johnson did not…
Blog
Senator Kerry – Wrong on Iran
Senator Kerry just said during the debate on SJRes 26, the “Murkowski resolution” to disapprove EPA’s rule relating to greenhouse gas regulation that the USA…
Blog
BP Supported Obama Stimulus Package, Global Warming Bill, and Corporate Welfare; BP Bankrolled Obama Campaign
Columnist Tim Carney notes that BP, responsible for the massive oil spill, is “a close friend of big government whenever it serves the company’s…
Op-Eds
BP’s Disturbingly Close Ties to Obama Administration
Columnist Tim Carney notes that BP, responsible for the massive oil spill, is “a close friend of big government whenever it serves the company’s…
Blog
Explaining Free Trade in Under Three Minutes
Watch Tom Palmer explain free trade in under three minutes.
Blog
Global-Warming Bill Contains Ethanol Subsidies, Which Cause Famine, Hunger, Food Riots, and Political Unrest
People across the world “are being battered by surging food prices that are dragging more people into poverty, fueling political tensions and forcing some to…
Blog
Obama Uses BP Oil Spill to Push Corporate-Welfare-Filled Global Warming Bill That BP Once Lobbied For
Talk about chutzpah. President Obama, the biggest recipient of campaign cash from BP, is using BP’s oil spill to push for a global…
Blog
CEI Weekly: How Deregulation Can Curb Terrorism
CEI weekly is a compilation of articles and blogs from CEI's staff. This week features Iain Murray's article in the American Spectator arguing for reform…
Blog
Obama Administration Pushes More Bailouts at Taxpayer Expense; America to Bail Out Corrupt Union Pension Funds
The Obama administration and its congressional allies are now pushing for billions more in bailouts for mismanaged union pension funds, and teachers unions. The union…
Blog
BP: A “Serial Environmental Criminal” With Close Ties To The Obama Administration
BP, which is responsible for the terrible oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, has a safety record infinitely worse than other oil companies, which…
Blog
Myths About Green Energy: The Truth Is, It’s Corporate Welfare That Destroys American Jobs
In The Washington Post, Robert Bryce debunks five myths about green energy: it won’t create jobs, won’t help the environment, and won’t make America…
Blog
Stimulus Package Increases Trade Deficit: Replaces U.S. Jobs with Foreign “Green Jobs”
The $800 billion stimulus package is shipping American jobs overseas. More than 79 percent of “green jobs” funding under the stimulus package went to…
Blog
Senate Passes Financial “Reform” Bill, 59-39; Will Wipe Out Jobs and Increase Credit Card Costs
The Senate has just passed a 1,500 page financial “reform” bill that deliberately leaves unreformed the corrupt mortgage giants that spawned the financial crisis–while…
Blog
Weak Trade Efforts During World Trade Week
President Obama recently declared this week “World Trade Week.” His announcement was yet another hollow attempt to appear favorable towards free trade. Unfortunately,…
Blog
Kagan Shirked Duty to Defend Federal Laws Protecting Crime Victims
Federal law authorizes life sentences without parole for particularly heinous violent crimes committed by 16 and 17-year olds. But Solicitor General Elena Kagan was…
Blog
Legal Elites Chip Away at Protections Against Violent Crime
On Monday, the Supreme Court, citing “international opinion,” outlawed life imprisonment without parole for juveniles who commit rape, torture, and other non-homicide crimes. Earlier,…
Blog
Supreme Court Overturns Life Sentences Without Parole for Violent Juveniles, Citing “International Opinion”
The Supreme Court has just held that violent juveniles cannot be given a life sentence without the opportunity for parole, unless they succeed in killing…
Blog
Bailout Supporters Lose Elections in Germany and Utah; Obama Administration Presses Ahead With More Bailouts
Senator Robert Bennett lost reelection in Utah’s Republican primary amidst anger over his vote for the $700 billion bank bailout known as TARP.
Newsletter
Free Trade, Chemical Safety and Internet Gambling
A bipartisan letter urges President Obama to pass our stalled free trade agreement with South Korea. Fenton Communications is warning consumers to stay away from…
Blog
Bipartisan letter urges action on Korea FTA
On May 10, 2010, two high-ranking senators, a Democrat and a Republican, sent a joint letter to President Obama asking him to take action…
Blog
Taxpayers to Put Up Billions More for Bailouts of Greece and Corrupt Mortgage Giant
Government-sponsored mortgage giant Freddie Mac is demanding another $10.6 billion in bailouts, which the Obama administration is expected to give it. Obama’s so-called…
Blog
CEI Weekly: CEI Catches GM’s Misleading Ad
CEI weekly is a compilation of articles and blogs from CEI's staff. This week features CEI's complaint filed to the FTC against General Motors for…
Cafe Hayek
Some Immigration Links
Blog
Hypocritical California Government Boycotts Against Arizona Over Immigration Law
“Representatives at three levels of California government were quick to call for economic measures against neighboring Arizona this week in the wake of its…
Blog
Fixing America’s Immigration Black Market
In today's American Spectator, Alex Nowrasteh and I make the case that lowering the cost of legal immigration through liberalization will reduce the amount of…
Cafe Hayek
Economists: Stimulus Didn’t Contribute to Economic Rebound
“The recovery is picking up steam as employers boost payrolls, but economists think the government’s stimulus package and jobs bill had little to…
Blog
And Another Free Trade Agreement Bites The Dust?
In Friday’s Christian Science Monitor, Howard LaFranchi discusses increasing tensions between the U.S. and Colombia over the pending free trade agreement. According to…
Blog
“Economists: The Stimulus Didn’t Help”
“The recovery is picking up steam as employers boost payrolls, but economists think the government’s stimulus package and jobs bill had little to do with…
Newsletter
The Cost of Government, Carbon Taxes and Sugar Subsidies
Today is Tax Day, the day when Americans think most about how much the government is costing them. James Hansen writes in The Huffington Post,…
Blog
USDA may increase sugar quotas
The Wall Street Journal reported today that the U.S. Department of Agriculture may increase the import quotas for sugar to address a tightening supply…
Blog
Do we really want to be like Europe?
With the passage of ObamaCare, we’ve taken another giant step towards Europeanizing America. Tragically, our history shows a steady trend in that direction, with government…
Blog
Fannie and Freddie finally called to Crisis Commission
It is good that the commission, after several months, is finally visiting the role of Government-Sponsored Enterprises, but the setup of today’s hearing is still…
Blog
U.S. avoids Brazil’s retaliatory tariffs — for now
With Brazil poised to retaliate against the U.S. for its cotton subsidies that were deemed unfair by the World Trade Organization, the two countries…
Blog
Lincicome: Obama and Free Trade
International trade lawyer and free trade blogger-libertarian, Scott Lincicome, outlines the ups and downs of President Obama’s stance on trade in yesterday’s Daily Caller.
Cafe Hayek
I Got People Too
Like John, I "got people" too. Here is a summary of points made in response to the question by my Competitive Enteprise Institute colleague,…
Blog
China’s Currency and U.S. Trade Deficit
Cato Institute’s Dan Ikenson had a timely opinion piece in Friday’s Wall Street Journal. He deconstructs the popular argument that China’s “undervalued” currency is a…
Newsletter
Fuel Efficiency, Imports, and H1N1
The Obama Administration plans to increase fuel efficiency standards. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative releases the 2010 National Trade Estimate report. The Centers…
Blog
President Obama’s Export Rhetoric
Trade policy that focuses only on exports while ignoring or taxing imports is likely to be counterproductive, but isn’t likely to be adopted by the…
Blog
$800 Billion Stimulus Package Doled Out Based on Politics; Districts with High Unemployment Were Shafted
“How is stimulus money allocated? Unemployment isn’t a factor, but politics is,” found George Mason University researcher Veronique de Rugy in…
Blog
How to Fix Immigration’s Black Market
Alex Nowrasteh and I have a piece in today's Detroit News arguing that liberalization, not regulation, is the way to shrink immigration's massive black market.
Blog
CEI files amicus in Aussie bank case threatening national sovereignty
Headquartered in Melbourne, the second largest city of the land down under, National Australia Bank is firmly attached to its home country. The primary trading…
Blog
Trade still has some support
Some politicians haven’t yet abandoned free trade, even in the face of widespread demagoging on the issue. As Scott Lincicome notes, five Republican Members…
Blog
The Social Evolution of Markets
Socialists and other collectivists frequently argue that markets are inherently “inhumane” and “unjust,” among other things. Free-market advocates generally dismiss these claims on their face…
Newsletter
Sugar, Health Care, and Libertarianism
The Washington Post attacks U.S. Sugar policy in an editorial. The House passes dramatic changes to health care policy. Edward L. Glaeser has a New…
Blog
USDA should increase sugar quota, says Washington Post
In an editorial today, the Washington Post attacks U.S. sugar policy, with its price supports and import restrictions that raise the cost of sugar…
Blog
Brazil’s Free Trade Agreement: Peace in the Middle East?
Free trade agreements can allow individuals from nations involved in a trade pact to trade freely without the hassle and counterproductive measures of high tariffs…
Newsletter
Finance, Trade and Toyota
Sen. Chris Dodd has introduced a new financial reform bill. U.S. Sugar is lobbying to keep government restrictions on sugar imports. The Washington Post’s coverage…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 126: Cheese-Rolling Races
Cheese-rolling races have been held at Cooper’s Hill in Gloucester, UK since the 1800s. Until this year, that is. Health and safety regulators shut down…
Blog
Increase sugar imports and reduce prices
Today the front page of the Wall Street Journal published an article (subscription required) focusing on the current fight to increase the amount of…
