Scott Lincicome is vice president of general economics and the Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies at the Cato Institute. He writes on trade, industrial policy, manufacturing and economic growth, and has taught international trade law at Duke University. He previously practiced international trade law at White & Case and holds political science and law degrees from the University of Virginia.
DI has documented statements by Scott Lincicome on Consumer Protection, Trade Policy, and U.S. Politics. Read the quotations, original sources and related cases below.
Role at the time: Cato Institute trade and economics researcher
Minimized
Statement summary
Scott Lincicome says the collapse in egg prices fits a standard supply-and-demand framework and that any illegal behavior was not economically important.
“That doesn’t mean necessarily that there wasn’t illegal behavior going on, but not economically important behavior.”
Role at the time: Cato Institute trade-policy scholar and commentary author
Condemned
Statement summary
Lincicome argues that the forced-labor investigation was designed to produce broad replacement tariffs and that its evidence does not justify the rates imposed.
“The findings were clearly predetermined. The methodology is thin to the point of embarrassment.”
Open source (opens in a new tab)Here Comes Another Round of Sham TariffsOpening assessment after the paragraph quoting Rick Woldenberg; July 23 commentary.
Why we used this label
Relative to the Section 301 forced-labor tariff policy, Lincicome expressly criticizes its design, evidence and remedy. His criticism goes beyond disputing a description of the policy.
DOJ alleges coordinated bidding inflated egg-price benchmarks. Cal-Maine denies wrongdoing and price effects. The proposed consent judgment contains no admission, while separate debate concerns the conduct's economic importance and the remedy.
Businesses and 25 states say Trump's 10% and 12.5% Section 301 tariffs on 60 economies are a pretext to revive struck-down global tariffs. The administration says they lawfully answer forced-labor import failures. As of September 30, 2026, no court has ruled.
