“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.
Other Countries Impose Higher Tariffs; How Should the U.S. Respond?
President Trump complains that our major trading partners impose more and higher tariffs than the U.S., and a WTO assessment implies he's correct. So what's the appropriate response?
NAFTA Negotiators Must Protect U.S. Intellectual Property
If a new NAFTA doesn't improve intellectual property protection, it's not a better deal.
An Open Letter to the President and Congress Regarding Tariffs
Dr. Merrill Matthews joins thousands of other economists as a signator on an open letter to President Trump and Congress expressing opposition to protectionist tariffs.
A Modest Proposal for Reducing U.S.-China Trade Tensions
U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators are meeting to resolve trade tensions. One way to do that is for China to import more U.S. oil and natural gas.
No, Mr. President, You Have That Backwards
President Trump seems to think we don't tax Japanese automakers, but we do. And Trump's suggestion would tax Americans instead.
Coalition Letter Urging Intellectual Property Protection Under NAFTA
Intellectual property is too important to global health and America’s industrial competitiveness to accept a new NAFTA lacking in robust IP protections.
IPI Commends Trump Administration's Reentry into TPP Negotiations
IPI commends President Trump for directing U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and economic adviser Larry Kudlow to negotiate U.S. re-entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement.
Even the Threat of a Trade War Could Tank the Economy
The U.S. economy has shifted from strength to uncertainty, and both because of President Trump's policies: Economic strength emerged from his regulation and tax cut efforts, and uncertainty from his tariff threats.
Chinese Trade War Shows Tariffs Don't Make America Great Again
As China increases tariffs on 128 U.S. products and the first sparks of a trade war begin to fly, President Trump demonstrates a failure to learn lessons from history in his pursuit to make tariffs great again.
Five Undeniable Truths About Tariffs
President Trump hopes to make tariffs great again. But economists learned several lessons from the past big tariff push in the 1930s. Here are some of those lessons.
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