Trump's Proposed Tariffs Would Add Nearly $250 to the Price of New Gaming Consoles
Similar price hikes would hit smartphones, laptops, tablets, and televisions.
Free Trade
Perils of Broad Presidential Power Over Tariffs
Donald Trump's plan for massive tariff increases is particularly dangerous because the White House could likely implement it without any new congressional authorization.
Could Trump Impose More Tariffs Without Congressional Approval?
Yes. But there might be one more key opportunity to rein in presidential powers over trade.
I Did Business With China, and America Won
Everyone benefited when I manufactured my invention in China, but Americans benefited more.
New USDA Organic Rules Put Wine Importers in a Bind
Government incompetence strikes again, turning the wine industry upside down with red tape and confusion.
Federal 'Buy American' Rules Cost Over $100,000 Per Job Created
Eliminate the domestic content requirements of the Buy American Act, don't expand them.
Automate the Ports
The dockworkers' strike is over, but America's ports will be some of the least efficient in the world whether they are open or closed.
J.D. Vance Is Wrong About Toasters—and Global Manufacturing
Trump's protectionist running mate comes out against “cheap, knockoff toasters” and common sense.
J.D. Vance Actually Does Understand How Costs Get Passed Along the Supply Chain
Vance says higher energy prices make building houses more costly. What, then, do tariffs on steel and lumber do?
How Much Would an American-Made Toaster Actually Cost?
A lot more than Oren Cass and J.D. Vance want you to think, and Americans wouldn't like the tradeoffs necessary.
Don't Expect a Return to the Trump Economy
If the former president wins the 2024 race, the circumstances he would inherit are far more challenging, and several of his policy ideas are destructive.
Robert Reich Is Wrong About Billionaires—and Almost Everything Else
His ideas would leave us poorer and less free.
Immigration Is Better Than Industrial Policy
In demonizing the Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, J.D. Vance and Donald Trump have forgotten what makes an economy work.
No, Trump-Style Tariffs Do Not Grow the Economy
The America of the past grew in spite of tariffs, not because of them.
Trump and Harris Both Favor Tax Hikes That Would Hurt Ordinary Americans
The costs of steep tariffs and a higher corporate income tax extend far beyond the advertised targets.
The Feds Won't Let You Use These Cheap Chinese Cellphones
American cellphone service providers don’t carry Huawei. Blame Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
When Leftists Were Free Traders
In Pax Economica, historian Marc-William Palen chronicles the left-wing history of free trade.
Leave U.S. Steel Alone
Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, and J.D. Vance agree that U.S. Steel needs to be controlled from Washington. They are all wrong.
U.S. Officials Tried To Block Baby Formula Imports—During a Shortage
One official was concerned that lifting tariffs would lead to "lots of questions from domestic dairy producers."
J.D. Vance's Revisionist History
Plus: Brat summer revisited, Telegram CEO arrested, and more...
Trump and Harris' Economic Plans Are Depressingly Similar
Both campaigns represent variations on a theme of big, fiscally irresponsible, hyper-interventionist government.
Kamala Harris' 'Price Gouging' Ban: A New Idea That Has Failed for Thousands of Years
A half-baked idea that is just as dubious as Donald Trump's tariffs.
Americans' Support for Tariffs Plummets When They See Prices Rise
A new poll challenges the protectionist narrative currently dominating both sides of the political aisle.
Trade, Public Opinion, and Political Ignorance
A new Cato Institute/YouGov survey finds contradictory attitudes on trade policy, and widespread ignorance. The survey also suggests a potentially promising political strategy for free trade advocates.
Survey: 63 Percent of Americans Support Free Trade. Why Don't Our Politicians?
Seventy-five percent of respondents are concerned that tariffs will raise the cost of the things they buy, yet neither Trump nor Harris has suggested lowering them.
The 'Pro-Worker' GOP Is Anti-Worker
The New Right talks a big populist game, but their policies hurt the people they're supposed to help.
Biden and Trump Are Pushing the Same Failed Trade Policies
Tariffs lead to trade wars, limit competition, and reduce innovation. But both Trump and Biden want more of them.
Trump Promises To Get Rid of Bad Regulations. Can He Deliver?
Growth of regulation slowed under former President Trump, but it still increased.
Republicans Hammer Biden on Inflation. But Do They Have a Better Plan?
Opening night of the Republican National Convention programmed a central issue with a Trumpian twist: "Make America Wealthy Again."
Both Trump and Biden Are Promising More Tariffs
Yes, trade tariffs cause higher prices. Trump never understood that, and now Biden apparently has forgotten it.
Vivek Ramaswamy Debuts 'National Libertarianism' at NatCon 4
"I don’t care to replace a left-wing nanny state with a right-wing nanny state," the onetime presidential hopeful said this week.
The 2024 GOP Platform Promises To 'Make America Affordable Again.' So Why Are They Embracing Fiscal Insanity?
Although former President Donald Trump's deregulatory agenda would make some positive changes, it's simply not enough.
Biden and Trump Are Both Disastrously Wrong About Tariffs
Yes, cheap imports hurt some American companies. But protectionist trade policy harms many more Americans than it helps.
My New Cato Institute Article Making the "Cosmopolitan Case Against World Government"
It is part of Cato's Defending Globalization series.
Trump Blames Biden for Never Removing the Tariffs Trump Imposed
And you have to admit, he's got a point.
Trump Advisor Admits Trade War Against China Failed
In an interview, former National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien admitted that "the Chinese didn’t honor" the terms of the deal, years after it was clear.
Trump Said Tariffs Would Reduce the Trade Deficit. Instead, It Grew.
In 2017, the last full year before Trump's tariffs were imposed, America's overall trade deficit was $517 billion. By 2023, it had grown to $785 billion.
Trump's Tax Plans: Good, Bad, Ugly?
Plus: Trump endorses Larry Hogan, violent crime decreases, and more...
American Manufacturers Need Tax and Regulatory Reform, Not Tariffs
Despite both presidential candidates touting protectionist trade policy, tariffs do little to address the underlying factors that make it difficult for U.S. manufacturers to compete in the global marketplace.
Trump's Proposed Tariffs Would Cost Families $1,700 Annually
"The scale of trade barriers proposed by candidate Trump is unprecedented."
Biden's Tariffs Are a Bad Idea
Bad for consumers, bad for American industry, bad for his administration's own environmental goals, and bad for an increasingly irrational executive branch.
Is Chinese Garlic a Threat to National Security?
Plus, an AI-generated recipe for garlic lovers' shrimp scampi
Marco Rubio Used To Know How Tariffs Work. What Happened?
The economics of tariffs have not changed in the past eight years. Marco Rubio has.
Biden's Call for More Steel Tariffs Is Economically Ineffective Political Pandering
If higher tariffs were the solution to anything, wouldn't there be evidence of that by now?
J.D. Vance Thinks U.S. Steel's Shareholders Weren't Adequately Warned of J.D. Vance's Efforts To Block Sale
Vance's latest gambit is pretty nonsensical, intellectually embarrassing, and obviously self-serving. But that doesn't mean that it's not dangerous too.
Politicians Are Showering Manufacturing Companies With Crony Subsidies for 'Job Creation.' It Won't Work.
These handouts will flow to businesses—often big and rich—for projects they would likely have taken on anyway.
Trump and Biden Both Get Globalization Wrong
Free trade brings us more stuff at lower prices.
