While economists broadly agree that the benefits of cross-border trade outweigh costs in the aggregate, distributional impacts often vary widely. Our posts on international trade focus on the effects of tariffs, how globalization impacts domestic wages and employment, the role of diversified supply chains in building economic resilience, industrial policy, protectionism, and trade deficits
November 7, 2017
President Trump has threatened to withdraw from NAFTA and KORUS. But the Constitution granted Congress the authority to regulate international trade.
November 6, 2017
Is the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement unfair? The U.S. trade deficit with South Korea has doubled, but the deficit could have been larger without the treaty.
October 19, 2017
The Jones Act was temporarily lifted to aid hurricane relief in Puerto Rico. Beyond crises, the Act imposes ongoing costs for Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.
September 29, 2017
The size of global current account surpluses and deficits decreased in the wake of the Great Recession but has since rebounded, albeit not to the same extent.
May 25, 2017
The bilateral trade deficit, which is based on gross values rather than value added, misrepresents the actual value of trade between two countrie
May 9, 2017
Do steel and aluminum imports threaten national security? The U.S. has initiated international trade investigations that could lead to new trade barriers.
April 12, 2017
At the core of the issue is whether China may be subjected to more stringent treatment than other countries in calculating anti-dumping duties.
April 11, 2017
Taxing energy intensive imports and exempting some U.S. export goods from carbon taxes could level the playing field with competitors from countries that don’t have a carbon tax.
April 6, 2017
If the U.S. implements Speaker Paul Ryan's corporate tax reform proposal, America’s trading partners can – and probably will – retaliate.