Research Library

While the U.S. has tried to appear assertive in taking action against China’s trade practices, this strategy has yielded limited results. In a new commentary, fellow Simon Lester summarizes current U.S. policies addressing China’s trade conduct and advocates for the U.S.’ revitalized engagement with the World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement system.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative recently stepped back from ongoing negotiations on digital trade at the World Trade Organization, citing unsettled domestic policy, and suspended support for digital trade rules in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework too. But if the U.S. wants to be a part of the conversation, it should reengage and help craft rules flexible enough to meet its future domestic policy needs, writes nonresident fellow Simon Lester.

Despite recent claims that “free trade is dead,” fellow Simon Lester explains that America was never close to anything resembling free trade in the first place. Instead, current U.S. trade policy, just like past policy, reflects a messy mix of free market and industrial policy views.

With the recent enactment of the CHIPS and Science Act, the conversation about industrial policy has started up again. Are state-directed economic policies back, and will such initiatives work?

Understanding how to interpret the signs of a child's distress as they adjust to a new way of life during Covid-19 — and how to respond appropriately — is important for a child's mental health and development.

The pandemic has compounded Mexico's existing economic problems, and López Obrador’s response to the crisis could make recovery more difficult.

Days after the attacks on the World Trade Center, William Martin, the Harry and Hazel Chavanne Senior Fellow in Religion and Public Policy and Chavanne Emeritus Professor in Rice’s Department of Sociology, spoke to a gathering of Rice University students, faculty and staff. These are his remarks. 

The Texas House of Representatives is considering House Bill 3256, which would legalize syringe exchange programs (SEPs) as a means of reducing the transmission of infectious and communicable diseases among people who inject drugs. On April 25, William Martin, director of the Drug Policy Program, appeared before the Texas House Committee on Public Health to testify in support of HB 3256. Martin also authored an op-ed in TribTalk supporting the establishment of SEPs.