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
At minimum, keep the de minimis import exemption
The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission has just issued its recommendations for China policy. One of them is to eliminate the de minimis…
Blog
Tariffs are lousy revenue generators
President-elect Donald Trump has proposed cutting income taxes and raising tariffs to replace some of the revenue. Economists of all political stripes have been…
News Release
Boeing machinists strike ends, but union should face financial reality
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace workers in Seattle have ended their strike, as members approved a company pay raise offer. CEI labor policy…
Search Posts
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…
