The United States is currently engaged in Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade negotiations designed to reduce barriers to international trade and investment. The latest text from these negotiations shows how trade agreements, if properly designed and implemented, help advance economic freedom around the world. Among other things, the draft text calls …
As if we didn’t have enough to worry about, earlier this month an official from the U.S. Department of Commerce (USDOC) warned that many activities at USDOC—such as the activities of the USDOC’s International Trade Administration (ITA) and the U.S. Foreign Commercial Service—will have to be scaled back due to …
The fireworks at the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) conference in New York started late on Wednesday. By Thursday afternoon, the atmosphere, which had in previous days been calm, felt like last July, when the last negotiating conference collapsed into failure. The fun began with an intervention on Wednesday by …
As some Venezuelans mourn the death of populist President Hugo Chávez, their northern neighbors in the Caribbean Basin shouldn’t shed a tear. In 2005, members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) sold out on free markets for the price of Chávez’s oil diplomacy by signing up for PetroCaribe, a financing agreement …
North Carolina’s congressional delegation has been among the most protectionist in the country. This is odd, considering that record levels of trade are creating well-paid jobs for many citizens of the state. North Carolina merchandise exports rose to nearly $29 billion in 2012, up 6 percent over the prior year …
A new report published in the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review provides strong evidence that the Administration’s obsessive focus on boosting exports as a way to help U.S. manufacturers is just plain wrong. The study debunks the idea that changes in either imports or exports affect growth in …
The Obama Administration recently announced its intention to begin negotiations on an agreement to expand international trade in the services industry, such as the telecommunications, banking, and insurance sectors. According to a letter from U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk to Speaker of the House John Boehner (R–OH), the White House …
America’s free trade agreements in Latin America are a major opportunity. But even though the new U.S.–Panama free trade agreement went into effect on October 31, potentially creating up to 7,000 new jobs, the United States still seems to forget about our friendly neighbors close to home. Talk of pivoting …
Nations that embrace international trade enjoy significantly stronger economies, achieve lower rates of hunger, and maintain a better stewardship of the environment, according to new data published by Heritage for the forthcoming Index of Economic Freedom. There are, of course, other factors that contribute to such positive trends. But international …
Trade policy with China was again front and center in last night’s presidential debate, with President Obama defending his Administration’s trade policies. In particular, the President highlighted the number of cases his Administration has prosecuted at the World Trade Organization (WTO) as his signature trade achievement: [We] set up a …
