“It is the maxim of every prudent master of a family, never to attempt to make at home what it will cost him more to make than to buy . . . . If a foreign country can supply us with a commodity cheaper than we ourselves can make it, better buy it of them with some part of the produce of our own industry, employed in a way in which we have some advantage.”
-Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, 1776
IPI believes the United States should aggressively pursue trade liberalization, which includes a willingness to lower our own trade barriers even when other countries do not respond reciprocally. Ideally, those efforts include multilateral agreements, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but bilateral agreements can also promote freer trade.
American consumers bear the brunt of the protectionist impulse through higher prices on consumer goods, and American workers are best served when liberalized trade policies facilitate the export of American products throughout the world. At a time when protectionist sentiments are growing, it is important to assert that the U.S. and its workers have nothing to fear from trade, and everything to gain.
U.S. can sweeten its sugar trade by ending subsidies
The best solution to sugar (and other agriculture) subsidies is a freer and more sustainable global sugar trade system, and that should be the strategic goal of U.S. sugar policy.
Solving the Sugar Subsidy Problem
The sugar subsidy problem will never be solved until WTO member nations can agree to a freer and more sustainable global sugar trade system. Such a system should be the strategic goal of U.S. sugar policy.
Conservatives Should Know It Takes Big Government to Stop Free Trade
Some conservatives face a dilemma: They don’t like free trade, but trade, including with other countries, is what free people naturally do. And the only way to limit that freedom is with a big, interventionist government, which conservatives have always opposed.
LNG export would be good for Maryland
Liquid natural gas exports could generate 9,500 jobs in Maryland alone by 2035 and increase state wages.
Note to Treasury: Germany Is the Solution, Not the Problem
The U.S. Treasury is criticizing Germany for being so successful at selling its products and services to other countries, and encourages the country to adopt the failed polices that are undermining economic growth in the U.S. and several EU countries.
WTO Should End Sugar Subsidies to Create Freer, Global Market of Treats, Not Tricks
The global sugar market has become a distorted maze of tricks, rather than treats, with more than 100 countries producing and subsidizing sugar production and exports. A new IPI publication says it’s time for the Obama administration to commit to eliminating subsidies and trade barriers for sugar and other agricultural commodities by pushing for such an agreement at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Solving the Sugar Subsidy Problem
The problem of sugar subsidies frustrates those who believe in free markets and limited government and who oppose corporate welfare. But surrendering our consumer market to low-price manipulation simply makes us vulnerable to future high-price manipulation. Ultimately, the sugar problem can only be solved through a reformed and liberalized global sugar trading system, which should be the strategic goal of U.S. sugar policy.
Why North America needs an energy free-trade zone
A North American energy free-trade zone would lead to energy self-sufficiency much more quickly, while dramatically increasing economic growth for all three countries.
Throwing Away the World's Biggest Economic Opportunity
So long as India blatantly disregards the intellectual property of its trading partners as part of its economic strategy, India will continue to throw away the world’s biggest economic opportunity.
Coalition Letter to Congress Regarding U.S. Sugar Policies
IPI joins with the American Conservative Union and other free market advocates urging a halt to all market-manipulating sugar policies world wide.
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