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

National Review
Trump Transition at FTC Is No Reagan Revolution
Don’t call it a “comeback.” Those hoping for a Reagan-era-like return to economic sanity or regulatory humility in antitrust at the Federal Trade Commission…
The New York Times
Trump Doubles Metal Tariffs as He Presses Canada to Become Part of U.S.
The New York Times cited CEI’s experts on tariffs “Ryan Young, a senior economist at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said that putting tariffs on foreign…

Blog
Russia tariffs won’t bring peace
President Trump seems to think that tariffs can accomplish almost anything. My colleague Iain Murray recently pointed out that Trump believes tariffs can raise…
Search Posts
Blog
More thought goes into a coffee order than tariff rates
Tariffs are the hot new trend in Washington, and neither party can get enough. In the month of May alone, the Biden administration announced new…
Blog
Are ‘loser’ states responsible for the US trade deficit?
Both presidential candidates have promised that greater trade restrictions will be on the way if they win. Biden has recently placed…
Blog
New CEI book: Adam Smith’s guide to life, loveliness, and the modern economy
Adam Smith is 300 years old, and CEI is 40 years old. To celebrate this dual milestone, I edited an essay collection about Adam…
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: Drain tiles and garbage fires
Inflation remains stubbornly high. President Biden announced a round of tariffs on EVs, solar panels, and medical supplies from China. The Biden administration also…
Blog
Three strikes against Biden EV tariffs
Over at the syndicate InsideSources, I have an op-ed explaining three problems with President Biden’s new tariffs on $18 billion worth of EVs, solar…
DC Journal
Three Problems with Biden’s China EV Tariffs
The Biden administration announced it would raise tariffs on Chinese-made steel, aluminum, semiconductors, solar panels, and EVs. This proposal has three major problems. First, tariffs will make…