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
The Jones Act Should Be Waived, but More Substantive Changes Are Needed
A Jones Act waiver to address mounting fuel problems will be welcome, but more significant changes are necessary to relieve the Jones Act’s burden.
Any Serious Congressional China Legislation Should Include Section 232 Reform
By supporting Section 232 reform, Biden can neuter one of Trump’s favorite policies.
A Clear Agenda to Save the WTO
To ensure the WTO remains fit for purpose, members should pursue changes in three areas: dispute settlement, negotiations and the WTO’s monitoring function.
Katherine Tai’s First Big Trade Policy Test
Biden’s U.S. Trade Representative, Katherine Tai, will have some big issues to sort out, many of them the legacy of President Trump’s aggressive and protectionist trade policies.
Digital Trade Agreements and Domestic Policy
The ongoing domestic policy debates on digital regulation are likely to be contentious, both in the United States and around the world.
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.
Meet Our Experts
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.