by Dan Mitchell | Sep 19, 2018 | Blogs, Economics, Trade
When President Trump proposed zero trade barriers among major economies, I applauded. Government-imposed barriers to commerce hurt prosperity, whether those restrictions hinder voluntary exchange inside a country or across national borders. There’s a debate over...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 11, 2018 | Blogs, Trade
I wrote a few days ago about Obama’s weak track record on the economy and included the relevant part of a Fox Business interview. In that same interview, I also talked about Trump’s performance. As you might expect, I said nice things about tax reform and regulatory...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 29, 2018 | Blogs, Trade
Remember the big debate about whether Trump was a closet free trader or a crude protectionist? Some people claimed he was imposing tariffs and threatening other nations in order to get them to reduce trade barriers. From the beginning, I was skeptical of this...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 28, 2018 | Blogs, Trade
During America’s early history, trade taxes were the major source of government revenue, but they were “revenue tariffs” rather than “protectionist tariffs.” Lawmakers didn’t necessarily want to block imports. This was before America was plagued by an income tax and...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 26, 2018 | Blogs, Trade
There’s a debate in Washington about what President Trump really thinks about trade. Is he a crude protectionist or closet free trader? If we focus on actions rather than rhetoric, I fear Trump is in the anti-trade camp. That is certainly the case if we look at how...
