Our Team

Claude Barfield is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, focusing on international trade, trade policy, cybersecurity, and digital privacy. Prior to coming to AEI, he was a consultant to the office of the US Trade Representative, researching international trade policy (including trade policy in China and East Asia), the World Trade Organization (WTO), intellectual property, and science and technology policy. 

His many books and publications include Swap: How Trade Works with Philip Levy, a concise introduction to the principles of world economics, and Telecoms and the Huawei conundrum: Chinese foreign direct investment in the United States, an AEI Economic Studies analysis that explores the case of Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei and its commitment to long-term investment in the United States.

In addition to his experience at AEI and USTR, Dr. Barfield was the co-staff director of the President’s Commission for a National Agenda for the Eighties between 1979 and 81. He was also a staff member in the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

He completed his doctorate at Northwestern University.