Policymakers must be constantly reminded of the benefits of free trade and the costs of protectionism. Free trade is the extension of free markets across political borders. Enlarging markets to integrate more buyers, sellers, investors, and workers enables more refined specialization and economies of scales, which produce more wealth and higher living standards. Protectionism does just the opposite. Congress and the administration should pursue policies that expand the freedom of Americans to participate in the international marketplace.
Trade Policy
Featured Content
America’s Broken Supply Chain
It will take months, maybe years, for the system to evolve. And that’s if Washington will even let it.
On China Trade Strategy, A Blast from the Past?
For those looking for a definite signal on where U.S. trade policy towards China is going, this week’s announcement was a disappointment.
America’s Ports Problem Is Decades in the Making
Systemic problems and bad policy have exacerbated pandemic‐related shipping delays.
The Progressive Case for Jones Act Reform
The Jones Act is unwise, unjust, and it isn’t working. Creating the fairer and more equitable society that progressives seek must include the reform, if not full repeal, of this odious law.
Legal Issues with the European Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism
European businesses are worried that a higher carbon price in the EU will put them at a competitive disadvantage relative to firms in countries without carbon pricing. This could spark a further shift to more offshore production that would shrink economic activity in the EU.
Featured Project
Cato Project on Jones Act Reform
The Cato Institute aims to shake up this status quo by shining a spotlight on the Jones Act’s myriad negative impacts and exposing its alleged benefits as entirely hollow. By systematically laying bare the truth about this nearly 100‐year‐old failed law, the Cato Institute Project on Jones Act Reform is meant to raise public awareness and lay the groundwork for its repeal or reform.
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Related Policy Center
Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies
The purpose of exchange is to enable each of us to focus our productive efforts on what we do best. By specializing in an occupation—instead of allocating small portions of our time to the impossible task of producing each of the necessities and luxuries we wish to consume—and exchanging the monetized output we produce most efficiently for the goods and services we produce less efficiently, we are able to produce and consume more output than would be the case in the absence of specialization and trade. The larger the size of the market, the greater is the scope for specialization, exchange, and economic growth.