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
Steeling politics
Politics ruins everything. Right now, it is ruining America’s steel industry. The Biden administration, with plenty of bipartisan support, has announced it will block…
The American Institute for Economic Research
Did the Bank of England Set Britain on the Road to Ruin?
“The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street” is the affectionate nickname of the Bank of England, as respected an institution as Britain ever had. Calling something…
Blog
Price signals and virtue signals
It’s a divisive election year, but all of us still have some things in common. Since the pandemic began, inflation has devalued the dollar by…
Search Posts
Blog
Ex-Im Bank Revival?
Next week the Senate is expected to vote on new board members for the Export-Import Bank, which gives favorable financing terms to foreign governments and…
News Release
Free-Market Groups Oppose House Attempt to Reinstate Harmful Paris Treaty
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), joined by 16 organizations—including Heritage Action, FreedomWorks, and Americans for Limited Government—sent a letter today to the House of Representatives…
Blog
House Has No Jurisdiction over Paris Agreement
If you have ever wondered whether Democratic leaders understand the U.S. Constitution when they bash President Trump for allegedly violating it, or just use “unconstitutional”…
Blog
VIDEO: Bitter Taste of Big Sugar’s Corporate Welfare
John Stossel and the team at Reason TV have a new video out on the expensive and wasteful federal sugar program, which benefits a tiny…
Blog
Response to Conservative Supporter of Kigali Amendment
The Kigali Amendment is a United Nations environmental measure proposed by the Obama administration, and that ought to be reason enough for conservatives to be…
Blog
America’s Tech Regulators Should Not Follow Europe’s Lead
This week The Economist endorsed European “tech doctrine”—a combination of antitrust, tax, privacy, and regulatory policies that is rapidly being imposed on a mostly American…
Blog
Brexit Brinkmanship
There is plenty of blame to go around for Britain’s current Brexit chaos. In a recent post, I pointed to how the Prime Minister’s handling…
Blog
VIDEO: Raising the Steaks on Jones Act Reform
Our friends at the Cato Institute are continuing their valiant fight against the wasteful protectionism of the Jones Act, a 99-year old law that requires…
Blog
Florida Bill Shines Light on Union Subsidy
Taxpayer dollars should be used to benefit the general public, not special interest groups. Yet, the state of Florida doles out a massive subsidy to…
Blog
Three Reasons Kigali Amendment Favors China over America
Beginning in the 1970s, many policymakers became concerned that the refrigerants used in most air conditioners and refrigerators were leaking into the air and depleting the…
Blog
Trade, Job Losses, and Comparable Wages
One of the frequent objections posted by those who are concerned about free trade is that it leads to job losses. This is true. However,…
Citation
Delaying Further China Tariffs “Nice” but Fails to Undo Harm “Being Done Right Now”
In a notice put out this morning, the Trump Administration announced a delay in tariffs against China “until further notice.”…
Blog
Administration Looks to Make Household-Level Imports More Expensive
One of the consistent problems with the Trump administration’s trade policy is an obsession with reciprocity—if goods aren’t treated exactly the same way as imports…
Blog
Say No to Trump’s Proposed Auto Tariffs
President Trump is mulling a tariff on automobiles. Joining a long list of people urging him against it is the Japanese auto industry. That opposition…
The Washington Examiner
On Trade, Conservatives Need to Stick to the Knitting
Successful companies tend to “stick to the knitting,” focusing on things they are good at, note Tom Peters and Robert Waterman in their seminal book…
Blog
The Bicameral Congressional Trade Authority Act
This week Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) introduced the Bicameral Congressional Trade Authority Act, which would reduce the president’s authority to unilaterally enact new tariffs by…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter Urging Congress to Support Congressional Approval for Trade Expansion Act of 1962 Section 232 Designations
Dear Member of Congress: On behalf of the millions of taxpayers, consumers, farmers, and businesses represented by our 38 organizations in all 50 states, we urge…
Fox News
Trump Faces Conservative Backlash Over Push for New Tariff Powers
Fox News cited Fellow Ryan Young on President Trump and tariffs: But underscoring the lingering GOP divide on trade, free-market organizations like the…
Blog
VIDEO: Lower Shipping Costs, Repeal the Jones Act
The Jones Act, originally passed in 1920, is a law that requires ships that service U.S. ports to be entirely U.S. owned and operated. This…
Blog
Agenda for the 116th Congress: Trade
President Trump’s doubling of tariffs has already cost the economy almost 1.8 percentage points of growth. That means 2018’s 3.4 percent third quarter growth could…
Blog
Brexit: The EU’s Gordian Knot Strangles May’s Government
When Rory Broomfield and I were examining the prospects for Britain leaving the European Union in 2014-16, we recognized that there was no easy way…
Blog
Reject U.S. Reciprocal Trade Act’s Presidential Power Grab
A forthcoming bill, the U.S. Reciprocal Trade Act, written by “Death by China” coauthor Peter Navarro and other presidential advisers, seeks to expand the president’s…
Blog
What’s on Tap for Trade in 2019
At noon today, the 116th Congress convened. Over at Fox Business, Iain Murray and I look at what the coming year has in store for…
Fox Business
The New Congress Must Repeal All of Trump’s New Tariffs ASAP: CEI
In two years, President Trump has doubled tariffs in the United States. Allies and adversaries alike have reciprocated, and the economic effects are already visible,…
Products
Free to Prosper: Trade
View the full chapter on trade here Protectionism, long a byword in politics for economic folly, has recently regained currency under the Trump administration.
Blog
Best Books of 2018: Clashing over Commerce
Douglas Irwin’s magnum opus, published at the end of 2017, is already a classic. Given the prominent role trade is playing in politics right now, it…
Blog
Year in Review 2018: Trade Policy
2018 was the year in which President Trump began to implement his campaign promises of using tariffs to change America’s trade policy. The ostensible reason…
Blog
Best Books of 2018: Factfulness
Think Julian Simon, Matt Ridley, and Steven Pinker’s data-driven optimism, mixed with Michael Shermer and Bryan Caplan’s awareness of human cognitive biases, as told by…
Citation
AUDIO: Ryan Young Joins the Phil Valentine Show to Discuss New NAFTA
Fellow Ryan Young joined the Phil Valentine Show to discuss the new NAFTA.
Blog
Report from United Nations Climate Conference: Heckling the Hecklers
Katowice, Poland—“Le temps est mauvais,” an African delegate told a colleague as they wrapped themselves up against the early evening chill. The weather wasn’t as…
News Release
Brexit Imperiled by Incompetence
Britain’s Prime Minister has bungled Brexit, which puts significant economic gains at risk, says Iain Murray, CEI senior fellow and co-author of a 2016, award-winning…
News Release
CEI Joins SIFMA in Amicus Brief Filed with Supreme Court Regarding Global Reach of Securities Laws
In a Supreme Court amicus brief filed today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) joined the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) in urging the…
Blog
U.S.-China Trade Deal at G20 Small Move in Right Direction
Nobody knew what to expect going into the G20 summit in Argentina, especially from a planned meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President…
Blog
Britain’s Treaty of Versailles
“Vote leave, take control” was the slogan of the “leave” campaign during the run-up to the vote on whether the United Kingdom should exit the…
Fox Business
Lessons from the GM layoffs: End the tariffs and the subsidies
General Motors announced on Monday it will be laying off 14,700 workers, closing five factories, and discontinuing several car models. This has caused some soul-searching in the…
Blog
GM Layoffs, Tariffs, and Subsidies
CEI's Ryan Young explores the lessons policymakers should learn from General Motors’ announcement of layoffs and plant closures.
News Release
Murray: British People Will Pay the Cost of May Government’s Incompetent Handling of Brexit
United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May recently announced a tentative deal for the UK’s exit from the European Union after a 2016 national referendum ended…
Blog
The Montreal Protocol—Did it Really Make a Difference?
An executive summary of the latest scientific compendium on ozone depletion, the Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2018 is now out. The report was released in…
Blog
U.S. Officials Wary of United Nations Ozone Treaty Negotiations in Ecuador
The 30th meeting of the parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (Montreal Protocol) is being held in Quito…
The Washington Times
Building New Free Trade Alliances
Since the start of the Trump administration, trade has been front and center. The United States has begun raising tariffs and other trade barriers against…
Blog
What Do the Midterms Mean for Trade?
Trade was a highly contentious issue during President Trump’s first two years. He has doubled tariffs, other countries have enacted equivalent retaliatory tariffs, and tensions…
News Release
October Brought 250,000 New Jobs, Despite Bad Trade Restrictions
The American economy added 250,000 jobs in October, the U.S. Labor Department announced today. The unemployment rate was meanwhile unchanged from last month, at 3.7…
Products
Letter to TEPAC Members Regarding NAFTA
As I briefly indicated, I would appreciate it if the TEPAC letter reflects the fact that it is a majority view of the members. My…
Canada Live News
Ottawa Risks An Endless Loop Of Canadian Farmer Payouts From Trade Deals
Canada Live News cited CEI on new NAFTA agreement. “Trade deals are better than no trade deals, generally speaking. But bad trade deals…
Blog
Dutch Appeals Court, Citing Paris Climate Treaty, Upholds Climate Lawsuit
A Dutch appeals court last week upheld a lower court’s June 2015 decision requiring the government to cut Holland’s carbon dioxide…
National Review
USMCA Sets a Worrying Precedent
Economists—and the world—breathed a sigh of relief when the United States, Canada, and Mexico stepped back from the brink of a trade war. That’s good…
The Heartland Institute
Trump Announces Trade Deal With Mexico
The Heartland Institute cited CEI’s Fellow Ryan Young on new NAFTA agreement. Ryan Young, an adjunct fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, says…
Morning Consult
Trump’s Trade War Isn’t Working Because Tariffs Hurt Americans
The Trump administration recently announced a trade agreement that will replace the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The new…
VOA
US Steel Workers Questioning Value Of Trump’s Tariffs
VOA cited CEI’s Vice President for Strategy and Senior Fellow Iain Murry on U.S. tariffs. Ian Murry is a labor expert with the…
Blog
Tariffs Won’t Achieve America’s Goals
Over at Morning Consult, Iain Murray and I have an op-ed explaining why tariffs are ill-suited to achieving the Trump administration’s economic and foreign…
News Release
Trump Trade Tariffs Mean Layoffs and Lower Auto Sales for Ford
Ford Motor Company just announced layoffs in the midst of a reported $1 billion in tariff-related losses. Auto sales are down due to trade tariffs…
Voice of America
Are US Labor Unions Souring On Trump’s Tariffs?
Voice of America cited CEI’s Vice President for Strategy and Senior Fellow Ian Murry on U.S. tariffs. But U.S. steel companies may be…
Blogarama
6 Quick Takes On The New NAFTA (USMCA)
Blogarama cited CEI’s Fellow Ryan Young on new NAFTA deal. Ryan Young of the Competitive Enterprise Institute piles on: Given the Trump…
Blog
Free Trade Is Good for Both Havana and East Atlanta
Our musical friend Remy has a new video out this week for ReasonTV that puts a pop spin on trade policy and comparative advantage.
Townhall Finance
How Much Has Trump Changed NAFTA?
Townhall Finace cited CEI’s Fellow Ryan Young on new NAFTA deal. Ryan Young of the Competitive Enterprise Institute piles on. Given…
Blog
New NAFTA Could Have Been Much Worse
The new USMC (United States-Mexico-Canada) trade agreement isn’t very different from the old NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), and that’s a good thing. Given…
Blog
Is There Such a Thing as Too Much Trade?
A common argument for free trade is that fewer trade barriers mean more trade. That argument is mostly true—there are a lot of deals people…
Blog
A New Front in the Trade War: Overseas Private Investment
Tariffs get most of the press in today’s trade debate, and for good reason. Tariff rates under Trump have roughly doubled in less than two…
Blog
Tariffs and Opportunity Costs
Today’s unsubtle trade debate largely ignores a subtle, but vitally important concept: opportunity costs. Direct harms from tariffs are easy enough to point out. Steel…
Blog
‘Energy Independence’ Hawks Caricature Trump Auto Rule
Securing America’s Energy Future (SAFE), a pro-regulatory “energy independence” advocacy group, this week released “The Military Cost of Defending Global Oil Supplies.” The report…
Blog
‘Traders of the Lost Ark’ in the News
The excellent recent study on trade policy by my colleagues Iain Murray and Ryan Young, “Traders of the Lost Ark: Rediscovering a Moral and…
Blog
Trade Goings-On: U.S.-UK Draft Agreement, New Book, and Peter Navarro’s Conversion
The Competitive Enterprise Institute is not the only group making a principled case for free trade. The UK-based Initiative for Free Trade, headed…
Blog
Common Myths and Facts about Trade
There are a lot of confusions on both sides of the trade debate. A short CEI WebMemo, published today, seeks to clear up three…
Study
Common Myths and Facts about Trade
International trade, usually a low-key issue, has sparked a heated debate under the current administration. As with any hot issue, several common misperceptions afflict the…
National Review
A New Kind of Trade Agreement
America’s old trade alliances are breaking down. NAFTA is being renegotiated, and might even exclude Canada. The successful Korea–U.S. deal has also been redone. We…
Blog
New China Tariffs Coming Soon
Less than a week after signing a bill to reduce some tariffs, the administration is moving to raise others. As soon as today, the…
Washington Examiner
Dan Hannan: A US-UK Deal Will Revolutionize World Trade
Washington Examiner cited CEI’s US-UK trade agreement draft. This week, at simultaneous launch events in Washington and London, I and others are publishing…
Talk Business & Politics
National Manufacturers Group Applauds Tariff Legislation
TB&P cited CEI on the recent Miscellaneous Tariff Bill Act. The conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute said, “Most importantly, it is at least three…
Blog
Three States Join California in Raising Air Conditioning, Refrigeration Costs
Maryland, New York, and Connecticut are following California’s lead in proposing restrictions on hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), the class of refrigerants widely used…
Blog
President Trump Signs Miscellaneous Tariff Act
In a surprise move, President Trump signed the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill Act into law on Thursday. The bill will reduce tariffs on roughly 1,700 goods…
Blog
Free Trade Challenges: Tariffs, Concentrated Benefits, and Diffused Costs
Tariffs hurt more people than they help. So why do those outnumbered few keep winning so many political victories at the majority’s expense? The answer…
Blog
August Brought 201,000 New Jobs, but Future Gains Threatened by Trade Restrictions
The U.S. economy added 201,000 jobs in August, the U.S. Labor Department announced today. Good news, but impending trade restrictions could put a damper…
Blog
Tariffs Invite Corruption
The Commerce Department is offering exemptions to President Trump’s recent steel and aluminum tariffs. More than 2,000 companies have applied. That means that there…
Blog
U.S. Should Re-engage with World Trade Organization for Everyone’s Sake
Last week, President Trump threatened to pull out of the World Trade Organization, which he called “the single worst trade deal ever made.” …
Blog
Will New NAFTA Be More Protectionist or Less?
This week has seen some swift movement in the talks surrounding the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). On Monday, the President held…
Blog
Trade Is as Old as Humanity
Archaeologists have uncovered evidence of long-distance trade going as far back as 200,000 years ago. The artifacts are mainly things such as obsidian tools…
Blog
Trade Restrictions Will Not Improve National Security
One of the most persuasive arguments trade protectionists use is the national security argument. It serves as a “get out of jail free” card with…
Blog
Australian Government Calls for Interchange Fee Ban
One would expect that years of failing policy would force policymakers to reconsider the wisdom of their actions. But not for the Australian Productivity Commission,…
News Release
Trump Trade Announcement with Mexico Belies Trump Trade Barriers
This morning, the White House announced a new “understanding” with Mexico, related to ongoing talks about the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Competitive Enterprise…
Blog
Brexit Britain Provides Opportunity for New Style of U.S. Trade Agreement
Despite its reliance on raising tariff barriers as a weapon in trade negotiation, the U.S. will soon have the opportunity to negotiate a new free…
Politico
A NAFTA Deal in the Making
Politico cited CEI’s paper, Traders of the Lost Ark by Vice President for Strategy Iain Murray and Fellow Ryan Young. The U.S.
Politico
How Infrastructure Went Wrong
Politico cited CEI’s report, Traders of the Lost Ark by Vice President for Strategy Iain Murray and Fellow Ryan Young. The Competitive…
Blog
Trade Made Renaissance Art Possible
Trade and specialization make all kinds of life-enriching innovations possible. In fact, Italian Renaissance art was one of them, a gift that continues to inspire…
Blog
‘Infant Industry’ Argument Does Not Justify Trade Barriers
Most startups fail. The conventional wisdom is that about 90 percent of businesses fail within five years of their founding. For companies making new types…
Blog
World Trade: The Special Case of China
While free trade with all nations is the avowed goal of both free traders (as we outline in our paper, Traders of the Lost Ark)…
Blog
Protectionism Keeps People Poor
Why do people trade with each other at all? Because it makes them better off. As Iain Murray’s and my paper “Traders of the…
Blog
Rediscovering a Moral and Economic Case for Free Trade
In our new paper, “Traders of the Lost Ark,” my Competitive Enterprise Institute colleagues and I attempt to articulate a strong moral and economic…
News Release
Trade Cannot Be Fair Unless it is Free
The Competitive Enterprise Institute today released a report on the urgent need to return to free trade policies at a time when tariffs and tensions…
Study
Traders of the Lost Ark
View Full Document as PDF With contributions by Fred L. Smith Jr., Marc Scribner, Daniel Press, and Ryan Khurana Profiles in Capitalism August…
Blog
Carbon Taxers in Full Retreat in Canada
New Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced on August 2nd his government was filing suit in Ontario’s Court of Appeal challenging the Canadian federal government’s…
News Release
CEI: Congress Should Reclaim Delegated Trade Authority and End President Trump’s Harmful Trade War
On Friday, China announced it would impose new tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S. goods, further escalating trade tensions between the two countries.
The Joint Economic Committee
Ryan Radia Testifies Before the Joint Economic Committee in Congress on Digital Trade
Ryan Radia, Research Fellow and Regulatory Counsel, gave testimony before the United States Congress Joint Economic Committee on the need for U.S.
Forbes
Networking and Automation are Upending the Scholarly Study of Entrepreneurship
The changing nature of work via the sharing economy, automation and networking is one among a profusion of variables (such as economic liberty) affecting modern…
Comment
Testimony of Ryan Radia: The Need for U.S. Leadership on Digital Trade
Chairman Paulsen, Ranking Member Heinrich, and Members of the Committee, thank you for giving me the opportunity to testify before you today. My name is…
Blog
Continue Supply-Side Policies to Maintain Economic Growth
As my colleague Ryan Young says, four percent economic growth is wonderful news. It provides yet more evidence that free-market, supply-side policies work, and…
Blog
Trump’s Trade Meeting with European Commissioner Juncker: Better than Nothing
Many trade-watchers are breathing a sigh of relief about President Trump’s meeting yesterday with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. The result was essentially a…
News Release
Trump, Juncker Take Surprise Cooler Heads Approach to Trade Brinkmanship
The surprise deal President Trump and EU President Jean-Claude Juncker announced today - to mutually resolve disputes over steel and aluminum tariffs and other industrial…
News Release
Trump Tariffs Will Harm US and EU
President Trump is set to meet with EU President Jean-Claude Juncker today, with trade tensions topic #1, but CEI Senior Fellow Iain Murray warns that…
Blog
Trump Proposes $12 Billion in Aid to Farmers Hurt by His Tariffs
As we’ve been saying ever since this issue heated up, tariffs hurt the economy. There’s no way around it. Seeing this harm, President Trump…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter Supporting the Inclusion of Language Requiring Congressional Approval of Tariffs
As conferees for the fiscal year 2019 Energy and Water, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act (H.R.5895), we encourage you…
