Beyond Tariffs: Free Trade and the Friends-and-Family Plan
A trade deal can lower tariffs and yet still leave the hardest barriers untouched. The shipment clears customs, but the supplier cannot get a license, bid for a government contract, or compete with a subsidized state firm. The border is nominally open, but the market has other arrangements.
As I argue in a new Mercatus Center policy brief, U.S. trade policy should explicitly target these kinds of anticompetitive market distortions—government measures that shelter favored firms or groups from competition.
These barriers extend beyond licensing, purchasing preferences, and subsidies. They…
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