Showing archive for: “International Trade”
The Barriers Behind the Border
Not all trade barriers are created equal. The ones that matter most do not sit at the border. They sit inside markets, shaping who can compete—and who cannot—before competition even begins. The recently released 2026 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE) catalogs foreign barriers to U.S. exports, foreign direct investment, and electronic ... The Barriers Behind the Border
Borrowed Prices: Pharmaceuticals and the American Tab
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed two sweeping Innovation Center models—the Global Benchmark for Efficient Drug Pricing Model (GLOBE) and the Guarding U.S. Medicare Against Rising Drug Costs Model (GUARD)—that would tie Medicare drug payments to prices set by foreign governments. Framed as pragmatic cost-containment tools, the models would import foreign ... Borrowed Prices: Pharmaceuticals and the American Tab
The End of Free-Range Tariffs: Discipline Comes to Trade Policy
The Supreme Court just clipped one presidential tariff tool. It didn’t disarm U.S. trade policy. Properly used, the decision could push tariffs toward a more disciplined role: countering foreign market distortions and bargaining them away. The Court’s Feb. 20 ruling striking down President Donald Trump’s tariff-setting authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ... The End of Free-Range Tariffs: Discipline Comes to Trade Policy
From Buenos Aires to the World: Trading Away Distortions
The United States and Argentina signed a trade and investment liberalization agreement last week aimed squarely at market distortions. The pact would cut tariff and non-tariff barriers, while targeting entrenched Argentine government-sponsored anticompetitive practices. The agreement offers a template for future Trump administration trade deals that focus on such distortions. More broadly, initiatives of this ... From Buenos Aires to the World: Trading Away Distortions
Europe Can’t Decouple Its Way to Power
Europe is experiencing a bout of geopolitical vertigo. With Donald Trump having once again floated the purchase of Greenland and threatened tariffs against his European allies, the transatlantic relationship looks more fragile than at any point in recent memory. NATO may yet survive the strain, but hoping for a return to predictability is no longer ... Europe Can’t Decouple Its Way to Power
The View from Africa: A TOTM Q&A with Willard Mwemba
Willard, can you tell us a bit about yourself? I began my career at the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission in Zambia, formerly called the Zambia Competition Commission, starting as a “humble trainee economist.” I quickly rose through the ranks, becoming a senior economist and then the director of mergers and monopolies—achieving this progression in ... The View from Africa: A TOTM Q&A with Willard Mwemba
When Antitrust Prices a Platform Out of the Market: Nigeria’s Meta Fine
The global tech sector faces an unprecedented regulatory onslaught. In the United States, courts have labeled Google an illegal monopolist in search and open web advertising. In Europe, Apple, Meta, and Google confront fines and investigations for alleged antitrust violations. Elsewhere, regulators in Brazil, South Africa, and Australia are rolling out digital competition regimes—often with ... When Antitrust Prices a Platform Out of the Market: Nigeria’s Meta Fine
The Invisible Hand Screws Up Your Regression
You’ve probably heard the claim: “Chinese imports destroyed millions of American manufacturing jobs.” Most likely, that number comes from the famous “China Shock” research by David Autor, David Dorn, and Gordon Hanson. It’s become a fixture in trade debates. In that original paper, Autor, Dorn, and Hanson compared regions with different exposure to Chinese import competition. ... The Invisible Hand Screws Up Your Regression
Is Competitiveness Transforming Competition Policy?
Nations around the world are reassessing antitrust policy (generally called “competition policy” overseas). Governments, regulators, and industry leaders are increasingly asking whether traditional antitrust enforcement is holding back the “competitiveness” of domestic firms. The term now shows up in speeches by European commissioners, in UK government directives, in U.S. merger battles, and in Canadian legislative ... Is Competitiveness Transforming Competition Policy?
Troubling Content Quotas Down Under
The Australian Content Requirements for Subscription Video on Demand Bill 2025 (ACO Bill), introduced earlier this month in the Parliament of Australia, would require large video-streaming platforms to spend either 10% of their Australian expenditures or 7.5% of their Australian revenues on locally produced original programs. While framed as a cultural measure, the bill functions ... Troubling Content Quotas Down Under
Digital Sovereignty: Sound Policy or Another European Luxury Belief?
In what may be the perfect expression of Europe’s current strategic priorities, the European Union will convene a “Summit on European Digital Sovereignty” tomorrow in Berlin. The choice to hold a “digital sovereignty” summit, rather than a “competitiveness” summit or a “technology of tomorrow summit,” arguably says a great deal. Alas, this notion that the ... Digital Sovereignty: Sound Policy or Another European Luxury Belief?
Trump Tariffs Before the Supreme Court — Who Wins?
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments last week on a case that will decide whether President Donald Trump has broad legal authority to impose tariffs as a key part of his foreign economic policy. Based on the justices’ questions, it appears more likely than not that the Court will hold the president lacks this ... Trump Tariffs Before the Supreme Court — Who Wins?
