Category Archives: Trade Policy
“Mandate for Leadership” (aka Project 2025) on Trade Policy: The Case for Fair Trade
I have delayed reviewing this portion of chapter 26 of the Project 2025 because I knew it would be painful to read. But as the election nears, it’s incumbent upon all of us to take up our burdens in support of good policy. So here is some key text from this portion of the chapter, written by my onetime (40-42 years ago) coauthor Peter Navarro (the second portion, “The case for free trade” by Kent Lassman is a useful orthodox treatment of trade policy).
CEA: “Tariffs as a Major Revenue Source: Implications for Distribution and Growth”
Released today by CEA:
Guest Contribution: “Let China Pay the Cost of Solar Energy and Electric Vehicles”
Today, we present a guest post written by Jeffrey Frankel, Harpel Professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and formerly a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. An earlier version appeared at Project Syndicate.
Truly Tariffying: A (Economic Policy) House of Horrors
I was taking a rare vacation trip (most travel is work related for me), when my wife and I decided to enter the haunted house at Tivoli for kicks (last visit, it’d been closed to renovate the wax museum to something new). Well, it wasn’t frightening at all – but that got me thinking: What would be frightening? Here’s my answer:
“Economic Policy in a second Trump term”
Funniest Thing I Have Heard this Year: Wilbur Ross on Trump’s Trade Policy Success
Just heard Wilbur Ross say on Bloomberg (roughly 3:35 ET) “The President was serious about fixing the balance of payments problem of the US”. I laughed and laughed and laughed. Maybe he was determined, but he had, like Peter Navarro, no clue about how to do it.
Import Prices Surprise
The index came in at +0.9% vs. +0.2% m/m.
Infant Industries, Subsidies, Strategic Trade Policy
More to come on how to think about the various tariffs (which seem to come under various authorities, including Sec. 232, Sec. 301, countervailing duties, etc., the White House statement doesn’t spell it all out) in a bit. But first, some slides covering nuances of trade policy (not even thinking about national security issues) from my 2022 trade policy class.
Currency Misalignment Measured Assuming a Balanced Financial Account
The Coalition for a Prosperous America and the Blue Collar Dollar Institute have developed a measure of currency misalignment, reported in their latest Currency Misalignment Monitor (April issue).
“You have to look pretty hard to find the “trade war” effect in the data”
That’s a quote from Bruce Hall, referring to the period 2011 onward. For his reference, I present key indicators of the manufacturing sector during the Trump trade war.