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…
