Research Department Working Papers
A History of U.S. Tariffs: Quantifying Strategic Trade-Offs in Tariff Policy Design
U.S. tariff policy has historically balanced competing goals—revenue, protection and reciprocity. Policy priorities have shifted over time in response to changing economic and political conditions. Using a calibrated general equilibrium model, this paper illustrates these trade-offs through the lens of tariff Laffer curves.
August 05, 2025
Texas firms open to AI as tariff work-around strategy
Firms are adopting AI and automation to offset rising tariff costs and shrinking margins, aiming to boost productivity and reduce labor needs amid economic challenges.
July 17, 2025
China remains modest player in U.S.–Mexico trade despite growing scrutiny
Understanding Mexico’s evolving economic linkages with East Asia and China is critical to the future of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA trade accord) and the nearshoring and integration of North American manufacturing supply chains.
July 09, 2025
Santa Teresa port of entry navigates future during fraught time
Jerry Pacheco, president of the Border Industrial Association in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, discusses his work attracting investment from private and public sources for the Santa Teresa project and its prospects in an environment of rapidly changing rules of trade.
May 30, 2025
Texas’ economic outlook deteriorates as tariff-related uncertainty builds
While lagging indicators reflect resilient growth for the Texas economy, more recent survey data suggest diminished momentum amid elevated uncertainty about the outlook.
May 15, 2025
U.S. tariff outcomes dependent on trading partner responses
In Depth: U.S. tariff policy has historically shifted among competing goals: providing revenue, protecting domestic markets and opening foreign markets to domestic producers. These goals are unlikely to be achieved simultaneously.
May 13, 2025
Outlook for North American Trade and Immigration
Tariffs, immigration and nearshoring are the current defining topics for the U.S.–Mexico relationship. The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and the Peterson Institute for International Economics hosted this conference on the economic outlook for North America through the lens of these issues.
April 10, 2025
Speech by President Lorie K. Logan
Welcome remarks for the Outlook for North American Trade and Immigration conference
This conversation comes at a pivotal time as governments adjust trade, immigration and other policies.
April 10, 2025
Texas economic outlook downbeat as uncertainty increases
The Texas economy grew slightly below trend through the first quarter of 2025. While job growth appears just off its long-term annual trend rate of about 2.1 percent, the Dallas Fed Texas Business Outlook Surveys (TBOS) point to slowing activity in both the services and manufacturing sectors.
April 03, 2025
Weighing Texas economic resilience amid tariffs, workforce challenges
Ray Perryman, principal of Waco-based The Perryman Group, has been an observer of the Texas economy for more than four decades. He offers his views of what has propelled Texas since the 1980s oil bust and the state’s future prospects, and he recounts how he grew his economics firm.
March 07, 2025