![Media Name: 201604_manufacturingtrade.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/optimized/public/raslider/201604_manufacturingtrade.jpg?itok=q7xoZhRk) # Trade Policy At a Glance 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. Subscribe to the Trade Chronicle email newsletter Join the Conversation [\#CatoTrade](https://x.com/hashtag/CatoTrade) Share This Topic #### Featured Content [![oil tanker jones](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser/public/2023-12/oil%20tanker%20ship%203.jpg?itok=mTjhW5dW)](https://www.cato.org/jones-act-waiver-tracker) ## [Jones Act Waiver Tracker](/jones-act-waiver-tracker) On March 17, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security issued the longest and broadest waiver of the Jones Act since at least 1950. This interactive dashboard tracks the substantial economic activity that has emerged since the waiver was issued. [![LNG ships - Gas Carrier](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser/public/2024-01/GettyImages-1900372899.jpg?itok=VpiV0A5I)](https://www.cato.org/blog/diesel-export-ban-might-be-legal-it-wise) blog ### [A Diesel Export Ban Might Be Legal, but Is It Wise?](/blog/diesel-export-ban-might-be-legal-it-wise) By [James Bacchus](https://www.cato.org/people/james-bacchus) It is always tempting in politics to try a quick fix, especially when you are down and behind in the polls. But this proposed quick fix may not be a fix at all. In some places in the country, it could lead, despite its intent, to even higher prices at the pump. [![tariffs - trade policy](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser/public/2025-10/GettyImages-2226276318.jpg?itok=AH6qFQgD)](https://www.cato.org/blog/congress-voted-expand-presidential-tariff-power-now-it-owns-what-comes-next) blog ### [Congress Voted to Expand Presidential Tariff Power—Now It Owns What Comes Next](/blog/congress-voted-expand-presidential-tariff-power-now-it-owns-what-comes-next) By [Clark Packard](https://www.cato.org/people/clark-packard), [Alfredo Carrillo Obregon](https://www.cato.org/people/alfredo-carrillo-obregon), and [Eli DeLuca](https://www.cato.org/people/eli-deluca) For years, Congress could honestly tell voters that various tariff messes were the president’s own doing. This week, it forfeited that excuse and now owns any additional duties imposed through the Russian sanctions bill it wrote and approved. [![75% of Americans Say Tariffs Will Be Important to Their Vote in the Midterms](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser/public/2026-09/a_clean_infographic_on_a_white_background_a_donut.png?itok=O7nBpDv9)](https://www.cato.org/blog/75-americans-say-tariffs-will-be-important-their-vote-midterms) blog ### [75% of Americans Say Tariffs Will Be Important to Their Vote in the Midterms](/blog/75-americans-say-tariffs-will-be-important-their-vote-midterms) By [Emily Ekins](https://www.cato.org/people/emily-ekins) and [Jonah Messinger](https://www.cato.org/people/jonah-messinger) 74% Say Trump’s Tariffs have Raised Prices; 53% Say Tariffs Have Weakened the Economy, 70% Say the President Needs Congressional Approval to Impose Tariffs [![trump tariff](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser/public/2025-04/trump%20tariffs%20.jpg?itok=oQ_A_6he)](https://www.cato.org/commentary/trumps-trade-war-driving-world-away) Commentary ### [Trump’s Trade War Is Driving the World Away](/commentary/trumps-trade-war-driving-world-away) By [James Bacchus](https://www.cato.org/people/james-bacchus) As the United States no longer tries to hide its protectionism, many of its trading partners are maintaining their commitments to further trade liberalization and concluding new trade agreements to achieve it — agreements that exclude the United States. [View More Related Content](/search/topic/22) [![Defending Globalization logo with earth illustration](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/promo_block/public/2023-09/defending_globalization.jpg?itok=te_TH3fL)](https://www.cato.org/defending-globalization) ##### Featured Project ### [Defending Globalization](https://www.cato.org/defending-globalization) Globalization today faces renewed attention—and criticism. Like any market phenomenon, the free movement of people, things, money, and ideas across natural or political borders is imperfect and often disruptive. But it has also produced undeniable benefits—for the United States and the world—that no other system can match. [Defending Globalization](https://www.cato.org/defending-globalization) is a new Cato Institute multimedia project on all aspects of the *fundamentally human* activity that we call “globalization.” [Learn More](/defending-globalization) [![Shipyard and shipping containers](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/promo_block/public/raslider/201806_jonesact_hp.jpg?itok=NYWx6Rqh)](https://www.cato.org/project-jones-act-reform) ##### Featured Project ### [Cato Project on Jones Act Reform](https://www.cato.org/project-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. [More on the Project](/project-jones-act-reform) #### Meet Our Experts [![James Bacchus - cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/bio_picture_mobile/public/2025-04/jim_baccuhus-cropped.jpg?itok=6TDtBDnM)](/people/james-bacchus) ##### [James Bacchus](/people/james-bacchus) Adjunct Scholar [![Colin Grabow](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/bio_picture_mobile/public/2021-01/Colin%20Grabow.jpg?itok=4AdaK5_L)](/people/colin-grabow) ##### [Colin Grabow](/people/colin-grabow) Associate Director, Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies [![Kyle Handley photo](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/bio_picture_mobile/public/2025-01/kyle-handley%20Cropped.png?itok=WrHWY4tC)](/people/kyle-handley) ##### [Kyle Handley](/people/kyle-handley) Adjunct Scholar [![Scott Lincicome cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/bio_picture_mobile/public/2023-10/scott-lincicome-square.jpg?itok=a5RaMdZx)](/people/scott-lincicome) ##### [Scott Lincicome](/people/scott-lincicome) Vice President, General Economics and Stiefel Trade Policy Center [![Alfredo Carrillo Obregon Cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/bio_picture_mobile/public/2026-05/Alfredo%20Carrillo%20Obregon%20Cropped.jpg?itok=3GkrNrAK)](/people/alfredo-carrillo-obregon) ##### [Alfredo Carrillo Obregon](/people/alfredo-carrillo-obregon) Policy Analyst [![Clark Packard Square headshot](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/bio_picture_mobile/public/2022-03/ClarkPackard_sq2.jpg?itok=OytqAxRu)](/people/clark-packard) ##### [Clark Packard](/people/clark-packard) Research Fellow [![Media Name: 201604_manufacturingtrade.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/promo_block/public/raslider/201604_manufacturingtrade.jpg?itok=bFrTqKJx)](https://www.cato.org/herbert-stiefel-center-trade-policy-studies) ##### Related Policy Center ### [Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies](https://www.cato.org/herbert-stiefel-center-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. [Read More](https://www.cato.org/herbert-stiefel-center-trade-policy-studies)