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
Escalating trade war with China won’t fix the need for reform: CEI analysis
On Monday, China vowed to retaliate against nations that corporate with President Trump’s tariffs against Beijing, putting potential trade deals between the US and other…
Blog
Trump’s tariffs: Look for the union label
One of the biggest boosters of President Trump’s tariffs has been the United Auto Workers (UAW). The venerable union wants to see domestic factories expanded…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Economic ideas for American workers with Ryan Young
In this week’s episode we cover teaching with AI, clearing the way for new nuclear development, and eliminating soda and candy…
Search Posts
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…
