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

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We’re out of the Paris Agreement—again! How Trump can make it stick
On Inauguration Day (January 20, 2025), President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement, the global climate treaty negotiated by the…

News Release
Delays and higher consumer prices incoming from US trade conflict with China: CEI analysis
President Trump’s ten percent tariffs on Chinese goods have been met with retaliatory tariffs by Beijing, indicating a trade war has begun. CEI’s senior economist…

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Trump’s unilateral tariffs: Time for Congress to do its job
Over the weekend, President Trump announced 25 percent tariffs against Canada and Mexico, though Canadian energy imports will face a lower 10 percent rate. He…
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CEI Podcast For February 28, 2013: Italy’s Troubling Election Results
The results of Italy’s general election were announced this week, setting markets on edge across the Eurozone. Warren Brookes Fellow Matt Melchiorre finds the outcome…
Citation
The return of the euro crisis
Without stronger economic growth, Italy can’t generate jobs and the tax revenues to shave the debt. Even before the financial crisis, growth was dismal, averaging…
Blog
The Myth Of British Austerity, And Why It Was Concocted
Opposition to spending cuts in America has been based heavily on “the myth of British austerity,” even though “if the British government is practicing…
Blog
Immigration Restrictions Violate Americans’ Liberty
Immigration restrictions are more than just violations of the liberties of foreigners. Truly a society that restricts the freedom of certain groups restricts the freedom…
Blog
Europe’s Latest Wake-Up Call: Italian Elections
Europe, which has been enjoying a recent respite from financial chaos, is about to get a rude awakening: Italian elections. Voters will go to the…
News Release
CEI Expert Calls Italian Election Results “Troubling”
WASHINGTON, D.C., February 25, 2013 — The results of the Italian general elections are in, but the country’s political future is still unclear. NPR…
Citation
Greek tragedy? Papandreou to lecture Ivy Leaguers on leading in crisis
“It’s good that students get to know firsthand knowledge of someone who was in the situation,” said Matthew Melchiorre, an expert on European economic affairs…
Blog
Baltic Success Reveals The Folly Of Obama’s Doublespeak
This week’s State of the Union address was full of plans for government action and spending to combat U.S. economic malaise. At the same…
News Release
Obama State of the Union – Will the Transoceanic Trade “Partnerships” be Free Trade Agreements?
WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 13 – Iain Murray, vice president for strategy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, had the following to say about the announcement…
Blog
The Case For Unilateral Free Trade In One Sentence
"Even if your trading partner dumps rocks into his harbor to obstruct arriving cargo ships, you do not make yourself better off by dumping rocks…
Op-Eds
Why a ‘small’ bailout for little Cyprus is a big deal
The bailout of Cyprus is garnering much less attention than did the help provided to other struggling euro zone members. Cyprus is tiny, and rescue…
Forbes
Obama Administration Errors Set The Stage For The First Green Trade War
Trade wars benefit nobody, but we may need to brace for one soon. This month, China is set to decide on whether to…
Forbes
France’s disappointing labor reforms
Businesses in France have long faced a hostile environment at home, with the country’s rigid labor laws among their chief complaints. This matters, as France…
Yahoo Finance
The Fog of Austerity: This Smoke Cloud Is the Ultimate Symbol of Greece’s Depression
But "Greece is regressing," said Iain Murray, vice president for strategy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. "As it becomes poorer, its environment suffers more."…
Blog
New Study Links Anti-Immigration Groups To Pro–Population Control Environmentalists
America's immigration debate is heating up, and conservatives anxious about liberal solutions to the issue are looking for answers of their own. Unfortunately, the major…
Blog
6 Ways To Improve The Senate’s Immigration Proposal
“We will ensure that this is a successful permanent reform to our immigration system that will not need to be revisited.” That’s from a…
Blog
More Evidence For Austerity’s Success
Third-quarter unemployment data from Eurostat, Europe’s statistical agency, provides still more proof actual cuts in teh size of government — what I call “real austerity”…
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Adam Smith’s Recommendation To End Illegal Immigration
Restrictions on immigration have created a black market in labor and movement. Currently, the U.S. government issues only 10,000 green cards to workers who lack higher…
Blog
Economic Freedom Declines Again; Government Control Is Bad For Your Health
Economic freedom has declined under the Obama administration, and America's rank has repeatedly fallen on the Index of Economic Freedom and other rankings issued…
Yahoo Finance
Not All Austerity Is Equal
Prominent economists, politicians, and pundits throw around the term “austerity” as if policies by…
Blog
Vive la Liberte! Even France Liberalizing Its Labor Laws
It may not be enough to make Lafayette proud, but it’s good news all the same. The New York Times reports: French labor…
Yahoo Finance
Letter to the Editor: Circumventing the WTO is dangerous
Sir, Jean-Pierre Lehmann’s letter (“Focus on EU-US deal risks further damage to…
Blog
Europe’s Green Building Boondoggle: Benefits By 2064
A report released yesterday by the European Court of Auditors exposed the European Union’s €5 billion boondoggle into increasing “energy efficiency” in public buildings.
Blog
U.S.-EU Trade Negotiations Will Have Some Sticking Points
A Financial Times article today focuses on possible negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement between the U.S. and the European Union and some of…
Blog
Guatemalan Children Starve Due To Ethanol Mandates
The New York Times reports that ethanol and biofuel mandates in the U.S. and Europe are fueling rising hunger in Guatemala, which now has the fourth-highest…
Blog
Basel III Cliff May Be Averted, But Dangers Still Loom For Main Street Banks
After numerous criticisms from U.S. community banks and lawmakers of both parties, the international committee in charge of the Basel III bank capital agreement…
Yahoo Finance
Italy’s Zombie Politicians Have Crossed The Atlantic
Zombies have overrun Rome—and they’re spreading to Washington. Politics on both sides of the Atlantic is stuck in limbo between life and death as politicians…
Blog
Europe 2013: A Primer
As the New Year approaches, many challenges loom for Europe. Here’s a quick list of the toughest hurdles for 2013: 1. Implementing the Single…
Blog
France’s Anti-Business Orthodoxy
In France, running a productive business is not important. Simply creating jobs -- not wealth or innovation -- is the sole purpose of enterprise. At…
Blog
Stuck in Time: Italy’s Politics
Things have a way of repeating themselves. This is especially true in Italy, where politics have been stuck in a time loop for the…
Yahoo Finance
Italian politics: 1970s stuck on repeat
BRUSSELS – The inevitable loop of Italian politics repeated again this month when former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi – fresh from a tax fraud conviction…
Blog
Obama’s Dangerous Italian Labor Rhetoric
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="260"] President Obama spoke in Detroit on Monday[/caption] President Obama condemned yesterday Michigan’s forthcoming transition to a right-to-work state. He claimed,…
Blog
Anti-Immigration Group FAIR: Market Is Like “A Mob Without Reason, Irrational and Immoral”
Last week, Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) denounced CEI’s position on immigration. Mehlman argued new foreign workers would degrade wages…
Blog
Union Holds U.S. Ports Hostage
Representatives of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63 (ILWU) agreed to a labor contract with port operators associated with the Los Angeles/Long…
Blog
Victory For Small Business: Lawsuit-Spawning Disabilities Rights Treaty Blocked
"By a vote of 61 to 38 with two-thirds needed, the U.S. Senate" Tuesday "failed to ratify the far-reaching Convention on the Rights of Persons…
Blog
Anti-Immigration Group Repudiates Free Market Principles
My last blog post pointed out the anti-immigrant charge that “massive infusions of cheap foreign labor” impoverishes the country is fundamentally anti-people. After all,…
Blog
Anti-Immigrant? Or Just Anti-People?
What economists call “labor,” most of us just call “people.” Without people, there is no economy -- no producers, no consumers, no supply, and no…
Blog
American Capitalism Is More Compassionate Than European Socialism
America has not yet become Europe. And that’s a good thing. In Investor’s Business Daily, I empirically show that the American model of greater…
Blog
Immigration Reform Is Not A Zero Sum Game
Tomorrow, the House of Representatives will vote on Republicans’ first post-election attempt at pro-immigration reform. But their bill, the STEM Jobs Act (H.R. 6429),…
Blog
Guest Workers Can Help End Illegal Immigration
The debate over immigration reform has focused on its long-term effects on America’s culture as well as its economy. But that obscures the fact that…
Blog
The Bank Of England Breaks With Tradition, Only To Continue It
U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne’s selection for the new governor of the Bank of England (BOE) is a strong break with tradition.
Yahoo Finance
Opportunity And Wealth Remain In America, Not Europe
The presidential election proved Americans have embraced European-style social democracy and that ObamaCare is but the first chapter in a new era of big government.
Blog
The Estonian Solution To America’s Fiscal Cliff: Cut Spending
Real austerity brings real growth. That’s the story of Estonia, which broke the common European mold of tax increase-based economic retrenchment by taking an axe…
Foundation for Economic Education
From the Sea, Freedom!
For as long as governments have overreached, people have sought escape. Indeed, some have dreamed of exiting the state completely. From the defunct Republic of…
Blog
CEI Podcast For November 13, 2012: The Fiscal Cliff At Home And Abroad
Warren Brookes Journalism Fellow Matthew Melchiorre explains what both sides of the Atlantic need to do to avoid fiscal catastrophe.
Foundation for Economic Education
America must avoid Europe’s toxic tax remedy
With America threatening to run off the “fiscal cliff” of tax increases and spending cuts on Jan. 1, it risks repeating the mistakes of Europe.
Blog
Italy Shoots The Messenger… And Its Legal System In The Foot
Italy’s legal system, already deeply unfriendly to business, has sunk to a new low this week. In the town of Trani, prosecutors requested to charge five…
Blog
Immigration Reform Resurrected!
Nothing makes politicians see the light like losing. Even while immigration restrictionists reassure themselves that the GOP’s immigration message is fine despite losing as…
Blog
Austerity For Europeans, But Not For Europe
Some economists and political leaders demonize European austerity as “savage.” They say it will only deepen and prolong recession. They are right, but for the…
Blog
Auto Industry Expert: “Romney’s Plan Also Would Have ‘Saved’ Detroit”
Earlier, we noted that the auto bailouts temporarily look more successful right now than they likely will be in the long-run since Toyota's bogus safety issues,…
Blog
“Status-Quo-ism” Of Italian Politicians Is Economically Perilous
Italian media report all sides of Italy’s political spectrum are calling for early elections. Unfortunately, that means a return of the unreformed Italian political class…
Blog
On Halloween, Euro Politics Fit Right In
All the usual characters are present this Halloween night across the Atlantic. But European leaders doing the trick-or-treating aren’t getting the sweet sugar fix they…
Foundation for Economic Education
European Politics Increasingly Resemble Halloween
Politics in Europe is beginning to resemble Halloween. Trick-or-treaters like Greece and Spain come to the doorstep of Germany and the European Union for bailout…
Blog
Italy’s Greatest Economic Threat: Italian Politicians
Italian ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi told news sources last week that his party -- Popolo della Libertà -- would soon decide whether or not to…
Blog
Scapegoating Free Speech To Hide Massive Government Failures?
Earlier, I wrote about how the U.S. government had scapegoated free speech for the terrorist attacks in Libya, claiming that the attacks were…
Blog
Immigration Policy Should Strive For The “City On The Hill,” Not The “Deserted Town”
Opponents of human movement, also known as “immigration,” argue that if the U.S. government stops forcibly preventing foreign-born people from relocating to the United States,…
Foundation for Economic Education
Europe vs. Scientific Consensus
Co-authored by Drew L. Kershen. The modern techniques for genetic improvement — recombinant DNA, or “genetic modification” (GM) — began to be applied to bacteria…
Blog
Southern European Bailouts Must Focus On Reform
As European leaders meet in Brussels this week for a summit on the future of European integration, bailouts for the south will be heavy on…
Blog
Greece Fire: Unions Hold Up Negotiations On Austerity Measures
This week, Greek officials and monetary lenders continued negotiations over the austerity measures the country must implement to save itself from economic collapse. Greece must…
Foundation for Economic Education
Greece must stop hitting snooze and wake up to economic reform
WHEN the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European finance ministers meet today at the European Union (EU) summit, they are bound to butt heads over…
Blog
China’s High-Speed Rail Disaster Is Not A Model For The U.S.
After taking office in 2009, President Obama aggressively marketed high-speed rail in the United States. (I noted at the time that most of what…
Blog
Canadian Government Official Calls Anti-Abortion Speech Illegal “Bullying”
Bullying has been defined by opportunistic politicians to include a broad range of speech, including core political speech. The latest example is anti-abortion advocacy:…
Blog
Mother Nature And Good Luck, Not Big Government, Saved General Motors… For Now
There are lots of claims that the federal government saved the American auto industry by bailing it out. (Never mind that Ford didn't get…
National Review
Nobel Peace Prize Goes to Destabilizing Force
On October 12, it was announced that the European Union had won the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize. The announcement was greeted with warmth in Brussels…
Blog
Jobless Youth: Southern Europe’s Ticking Time Bomb
Forget austerity and bailouts. Southern Europe has an even bigger problem: a glut of unemployed young people. If this trend continues, workforces will regress in…
Blog
CEI Podcast For October 11, 2012: More Americans
Policy Analyst David Bier thinks the world could use more Americans. And an easy way make happen is through increasing legal immigration. America's superior economic…
Blog
Suffocating Athena: Public Sector Unions Kill Greek Salvation — Again
On October 1, the Greek government unveiled an austerity package that aims to reduce public spending by $15 billion (11.5 billion euros) for 2013-2014,…
The American Spectator
Did Magna Carta Die in Vain?
It's rare that an interview by David Letterman gives you deep insight into a troubling problem, but his interview with British Prime Minister David Cameron…
The American Spectator
Jobless youth – southern Europe’s ticking time bomb
BRUSSELS – As Europe hangs on every public statement about the possibility of more bailouts from the European Central Bank or German Chancellor Angela Merkel,…
Blog
Obama Administration Promotes Dependence On Welfare And Food Stamps: A Bigger Priority Than Public Safety?
While the Obama administration left the Mexican government completely in the dark about Operation Fast and Furious (which sent guns to Mexican drug cartels), …
Blog
Obama Administration Sent Guns To Drug Cartels
The Obama administration's botched Operation Fast and Furious, which provided weapons used in hundreds of crimes and killing sprees in Mexico, was broader than…
Blog
LOST Washing Up To Our Shores Once Again
The United National Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) celebrated its 30th anniversary this year. Simultaneously, there has been a push for…
Blog
The Real Spanish Bank Bailout Cost: 113 Billion Euro
Don’t be fooled by the optimism overflowing from the stress test of Spain’s banking system released on Friday. American Consultancy Oliver Wyman, which performed the…
News Release
Report on Spanish Banks Underestimates Cost of Potential Bailout
WASHINGTON, D.C., October 1, 2012 — A report last week said Spain’s banks could require as much as 53.74 billion euro in bailout funds,…
Blog
Scapegoating Free Speech
In the aftermath of a terrorist attack in Libya that killed our ambassador and three other Americans, the Obama administration was quick to scapegoat a…
Blog
State Capitalism Or Corporatism? Italy’s Carmaker Conundrum
Italy’s iconic car manufacturer, Fiat, announced Saturday its plans to keep its production base in Italy after months of threatening to leave for more…
Blog
The European Central Bank’s Losing Game Of Chicken
European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi is losing a game of chicken with the Euro Area’s distressed peripheral countries. Earlier this month, Draghi announced…
Blog
Economic Freedom Of The World
Non-economists tend to be much more skeptical about economic freedom than economists are. This in itself is a powerful case for free markets. But empirical…
Blog
Striking: Right Or Privilege?
As the Chicago teachers’ strike is entering its second week, Mayor Emanuel has pledged to seek an injunction with the court to force instructors back…
Blog
Farms Need Workers, Not Subsidies
Reports of record farm profits has CNBC’s Senior Online Editor John Carney calling America’s agricultural labor shortage “phony,” and by implication, just an excuse…
Blog
Disturbing Calls For Censorship In America By Professors, Journalists, U.S. Diplomats, And Egyptian Government
In response to a film that mocked Mohammed, journalists on MSNBC, a professor, and the Egyptian government called for punishment of the film's producers.
Blog
Diverse GOP Voices Emphasize Immigrant Contributions
[caption id="attachment_59817" align="alignleft" width="266"] Former-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice[/caption] Even as the Republican National Committee adopted a platform advocating strict immigration enforcement, several influential party…
Blog
Higher Education Bubble Spawns Demographic Decline Among Educated Americans
The Washington Times takes note of the burgeoning higher education bubble in a recent editorial: The cost of a college education has…
Blog
Imagine There Are No Countries
“Imagine there’s no countries. It isn’t hard to do,” John Lennon once told us. Ignoring Lennon's grammatical error, that is exactly what University of Wisconsin-Madison…
The American Spectator
Trade Deficit Is Nothing to Worry About
Does it bother you that you run a trade deficit with your grocery store? You probably bought thousands of dollars’ worth of food from it…
The American Spectator
Angela Merkel’s Bismarckian Euro Diplomacy
German Chancellor Angela Merkel seems to be channeling her 19th century predecessor, Otto von Bismarck, in a striking way; engineering a diplomatic balancing act…
Blog
Miraculous Markets: Water Into Wine
Libertarians are often accused of “worshiping” the free market. But the truth is, markets can perform miracles. A car growing in Iowa? David Friedman (son…
Blog
CEI Podcast For July 19, 2012: Congress Takes On High-Skilled Immigration Reform
Congress will soon vote on a package of reforms for holders of the H-1B visa for high-skilled immigrants. Policy Analyst David Bier unpacks the proposed…
Blog
Europe’s Central Bankers Are Running Out Of Road
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said yesterday in his testimony to the House Financial Services Committee that Europe is a long way off from having a…
Blog
Obama Administration Urged Self-Reliant Hispanics To Go On Food Stamps
The government encouraged self-sufficient Hispanics to apply for food stamps, in a Spanish-language radio campaign that continued until English speakers finally became aware…
Blog
Americans Pay Taxes On Overseas Income, Including Bank Accounts In So-Called “Tax Havens”
Recently, there has been a lot of coverage of the fact that Romney, Obama, and other politicians like Dick Durbin and Debbie Wasserman…
Blog
Italy Kicks the Can on Labor Reform
Italy continues to put off addressing its most fundamental economic problem: impossibly rigid labor regulation. In this letter to The Wall Street Journal, I explain why…
Study
Freeing Europe From the Euro
The basic principles of the common market could save the European Union, if they were applied to monetary policy. Europe’s currency future lies in competition.
Blog
A Dream Deferred: An Independence Day Story About Becoming An American Citizen
On July 4, Popehat’s Ken White posted a touching story about Filipino World War II veterans belatedly given their promised American citizenship in the…
Blog
How Restricted Borders Replaced Free Migration
By the late 19th century, liberalism had essentially defeated mercantilism as the West's dominant economic philosophy. With its ascent, state attempts to control trade and travel…
Blog
Georgia Offers “Amnesty” to Businesses From Its Tough Immigration Law
More amnesty from immigration laws by prosecutorial discretion! No, not the president’s order to defer deportation for certain children of undocumented immigrants, but the decision…
Blog
Globalization Has Been Happening for a Long Time
Our innate tendency to truck and barter, as Adam Smith put it, is very strong indeed.
Blog
Supreme Court Limits Arizona’s Anti-Immigration Law
The Supreme Court has struck down portions of Arizona’s SB 1070 — the controversial immigration law that targets undocumented migrant workers. The Court ruled that…
Blog
Supreme Court Strikes Down Mandatory Life Sentences Without Parole for Teenagers, But Does Not Cite “International Norms”
The Supreme Court has just ruled 5-to-4 that states cannot mandate life sentences without the possibility of parole for murderers under age 18, no matter…
Blog
Who’s the Outsourcer-in-Chief? Obama
Earlier, after discussing all the jobs that have been sent overseas by the Obama administration using taxpayer subsidies, I dubbed President Obama the “…