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 Daily Economy
Breakneck: Dan Wang Explores the Strange Symmetry of US and China
The title of Dan Wang’s book Breakneck focuses on the People’s Republic of China (PRC) specifically, but it is really about the self-conscious great-power rivalry…
Blog
AGOA renewal should hold South Africa accountable
Free traders scored a victory in Congress this week when the House Ways and Means Committee passed the AGOA Extension Act. The legislation, sponsored…
The Washington Examiner
Coconut, citrus, and tea: Here’s what got tariff relief quietly over the weekend
The Washington Examiner cited CEI’s expert on tariffs Ryan Young, a senior economist at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said the list of tariff rollbacks is…
Search Posts
Blog
Tit-for-tat: Tariffs and trucks
It’s no empty threat — Mexico will be slapping high tariffs on almost one hundred U.S. products beginning tomorrow, according to its economy minister. …
Blog
More on carbon tariffs
For more on the insanity of carbon tariffs, there’s an excellent 2008 article by the National Post’s Terence Corcoran appropriately titled “Blowing up the…
Blog
Carbon tariffs quid pro quo?
Just as the World Bank put out a report on increased trade protectionism in the world, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu…
Newsletter
Beach House Bailout, Voting Rights and Trade War with Mexico
Congress to likely consider a controversial plan for taxpayers to subsidize disaster insurance in risk-prone states. Attorney General Eric Holder keeps quiet about the recent…
Blog
Mexico wants to keep on trucking
Mexico said it would impose tariffs on about 90 U.S. exports in retaliation for a recent bill that violates the North America Free Trade…
Op-Eds
Silvia’s Ecuador Trip Diary: Entry Two
The conference began with remarks from Gustavo Pinto, president of the Geologists Association, who commented on the need to develop mining in mineral-rich Ecuador,…
Blog
Trade and special interests
A National Review Online editorial today takes President Obama to task for catering to Democratic special interests opposed to free trade. The…
Blog
Obama Insults America’s Allies, Endangers Economy
Not content with endangering the economy by pushing through $8 trillion in bailouts and welfare, Obama has now insulted the…
Blog
Remaining ‘Swiss’ No Longer An Option
In a running theme, I again cover the topic of the U.S. government’s heavy-handed dealings with swiss…
Blog
Obama Administration’s trade agenda released
According to President Obama’s 2009 Trade Policy Agenda, trade policy in his Administration will be used to promote “social accountability” and make…
Blog
Dambisa Moyo: Zambian Author Takes on Foreign Aid
The celebrity parade calling for more foreign aid to poor countries has become so ubiquitous — and accepted — these days that critiques of it…
Blog
More on Environmental Policies and Protectionism
Marlo made three interesting arguments yesterday contending that cap-and-trade would generate protectionist outcomes. I want to add another, pervasive, yet oft-neglected reason.
Blog
Is cap-and-trade inherently protectionist?
Yes, for three reasons. (1) Companies in carbon-constrained countries will demand carbon tariffs to “level the playing field” vis-a-vis firms in non-carbon constrained countries. (2)…
Blog
Gold is King Among Investors
Gold prices are skyrocketing—recently closing at over $1,000 an ounce, the highest in almost a year—while inflation fears continue rising and the dollar weakens. This…
Blog
More protectionism on the horizon?
Good article today by Bloomberg columnist Michael Sesit, who lays out the protectionist actions many countries are taking in the midst of…
Blog
UBS agrees to deal with the devil
I revoke my previous apology to the Swiss, and reiterate my previous disapproval. As evidenced by the…
Blog
Obama in Canada — where U.S. protectionism is an issue
President Obama is in Canada today to meet with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on a range of issues – chief among…
Blog
Fraud in More Ways Than One
The news of the federal fraud charges against billionaire Texan financier Sir Allen Stanford (he got the knighthood from his dual citizenship from Antigua)…
Blog
Craft Brewers leeched by Oregon Regulators
Why legislators think it is a good idea to put their heels on the neck of the most productive industries is beyond me. Perhaps following…
Blog
The Juche Weather Idea
North Korea’s official propaganda organ, the Korea Central News Agency, reveals the real cause of global warming: The snow in the area of Jong…
News Release
Statement on Judd Gregg Withdrawal as Obama Commerce Secretary Nominee
Statement on Judd Gregg Withdrawal as Obama Commerce Secretary Nominee Statement by Wayne Crews, Vice President of Policy for the…
Blog
European Environment Agency–stuck in a mental rut
In a report titled “Beyond Transport Policy,” the European Environment Agency (EEA) bemoans the fact that European transport sector CO2 emissions increased by 26% during…
Blog
Environmental Policies Kill – Again!
One of the main themes of my book, The Really Inconvenient Truths, is that misguided environmental policies often lead to humanitarian and environmental disaster.
Blog
The Prince and the Paupers
I still regard myself as a loyal subject of Her Britannic Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, but it’s hard not to come over all Cromwellian when…
Blog
Tilting at Food Safety Windmills
Unfortunately, as long as the world's food production system continues to be highly decentralized and fragmented, there will continue to be foodborne illness outbreaks like…
Op-Eds
Protectionism is the embrace of fear, the rejection of hope
In the context of America’s $17-trillion economy, $12-trillion national debt and $4-trillion federal budget, a few billion dollars worth of international trade doesn’t sound…
Blog
Support for Stimulus Collapses Internationally
Rasmussen reports that support for the borrow-and-spend plan is falling rapidly: The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 37% favor the…
Newsletter
Stimulus Trade Wars, Smart Grids and Bank Nationalization
Lawmakers propose applying a “buy American” restriction to projects funded by the economic stimulus package. Energy companies lobby for subsidies for a national “smart” electrical…
Blog
Stimulus Plan Repeats Mistakes That Spawned Great Depression
The European Union is threatening a trade war over provisions in the $800 billion “stimulus” package backed by Obama and Congressional leaders. The Great…
Blog
Liveblog of Al Gore Climate Hearing
No TV station seems to be covering this live, but you can watch here. Kerry in his introduction says “if there was a…
Blog
When the Irreversible Effects Meet the Immovable Policy
Apparently, global warming is now irreversible. Or, at least, it is if you don’t consider any of the policy options that might, you know,…
Blog
Stimulus to Hunger
Great. Now USDA head Tom Vilsack is saying the US ethanol industry needs to be protected in the borrow-and-spend bill, and beyond:…
News Release
CEI Unveils Agenda for Congress
Washington, D.C., January 26, 2009—With the incoming Obama administration and the opening of the new Congress, the House and Senate are…
Blog
Waste Not, Want Not … Or Else!
The British government is looking after its people, in a motherly sort of way. It plans to send government officials door-to-door to tell people not to…
Blog
The Daddy Knows Best Inaugural Address
Fatal conceit alert! Here’s the text of the Inaugural Address, with some comments from your humble servant. For everywhere we look, there is work…
Blog
Britain Prays for Obama Miracle
With a trillion dollar national debt, a currency crisis and their own bank bailout having conclusively failed, Britain is on the edge of bankruptcy. That…
National Association of Manufacturers
Obama and the Keynesian Revival
The National Association of Manufacturers discusses Iain Murray's National Review article on Obama's Keyenesian revival. Iain Murray of the Competitive Enterprise Institute makes…
Blog
Ecuador’s Mining Law and the 70% WFT
Ecuador, the only Latin American country that lacks large-scale mining operations, is passing a new mining law that will lift a six-month ban on mining…
Blog
Elephantine Mistake
In the 80s and 90s, Zimbabwean elephant management was a magnificent illustration of how property rights and markets combine to protect and even…
Blog
The Bureaucratic Mind at Work
In an increasingly rare example of investigative journalism, the UK Times finds a ‘ghost bus’ designed to spare ministers’ blushe. The bus, which is…
Blog
Amazing How Many People in Europe are Sick
Europe has a very generous social welfare system--basically, just say you aren't feeling quite right, and you get paid. Surprise, surprise ... people take advantage…
Blog
Soderbergh: Historically Illiterate or Willfully Ignorant?
In a new interview, Steven Soderbergh, the incredibly overrated Hollywood director whose new paean to the disgusting Che Guevara is getting a lot…
Blog
Thousands Die After Zimbabwe Dictator Nationalizes Water Systems
Thousands of people have died of cholera in Zimbabwe after the country’s left-wing dictator Robert Mugabe nationalized municipal water systems to seize their revenue,…
Blog
Nationalized Health Care: Growing the Nanny State
Advocates of the Nanny State have long been with us. What was Prohibition but an early manifestation of government treating everyone as children to protect…
Blog
The EU Propaganda Machine
Government propaganda is always irritating, especially because that means politicians are taxing citizens to pay for a snow job for those same citizens. The European…
Blog
More Money For Your Mattress
America's biggest maker of mattress springs has been hard at work...in Washington. After all that work, the Department of Commerce is in bed with the…
Blog
On Stalin’s Endurance
In a recent poll conducted in Russia on who is the “greatest” Russian ever, Joseph Stalin came in third (after Alexander Nevsky, who repelled…
Blog
Remember, the Government Wants to Manage Your Health Care!
Just think how wonderful it would be if government guaranteed everyone health care. Just like in Great Britain! Just ask Lynne Neilson what she thinks…
National Association of Manufacturers
15 Years of NAFTA
Products
CEI Planet: January – February 2009
View the new Montly Planet by downloading the PDF of the issue. Below you’ll find previews of the articles in this issue: From The…
