'''Free trade ''' is a misleading term meaning for unregulated trade between nations without [[tariffs]] or , quotas placed on or subsidies applying to the goods exchanged. Since one nation has little control over another nation, without some sort of agreement between two nations, free trade typically harms a particular group of people in one nation, such as laborers or consumers. Free trade suppresses wages and reduces job opportunities in the wealthier nation (e.g., the United States), and transfers wealth to the elite in the poorer nation (e.g., China).
Free trade It is controversial because it can have undesired side effects, such as the use by a nation of slave-labor or building [[military weapons]] to point at other nations. Also, possible that free trade can increase the importation exist between a potential future enemy of undesireda country, concealed illegal [[drugs]]leading to national security problems and greater defense costs.
Free trade can have undesired side effects, such as a massive loss of manufacturing jobs by the wealthier trading partner though a mechanism known as [[offshoring]] jobs to a trading partner having cheaper labor. Moreover, nearly all of the benefits of free trade can accrue to the trading partner or its government, which may be an enemy of the wealthier trading partner.
Free trade raises moral issues as well, such as the use by a nation of slave labor or use of proceeds from the trading to build military weapons to be used against other nations. <blockquote>The basic argument for free trade is based on the economic theory of comparative advantage: each region should concentrate on what it can produce most cheaply and efficiently and should exchange its products for those it is less able to produce economically. Cf: Columbia Encyclopedia.</blockquote> There are some regional free trade agreements like the ''North American Free Trade Agreement'' (NAFTA) and the ''Free Trade Area of the Americas'' (FTAA); in [[Europe]], ''The European Free Trade Association'' (EFTA), which is an intergovernmental organisation set up for the promotion of free trade and economic integration to the benefit of its four Member States: [[Iceland]], [[Liechtenstein]], [[Norway]] and [[Switzerland]]. [http://www.efta.int/] == See also ==*[[Free enterprise]]*[[Trading]] == External links == *[http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/ Trade, Economy, & Related Issues]*[http://www.freetrade.org/ Center for Trade Policy Studies]*[http://www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/Statis_e.htm International trade and tariff data] World Trade Organization. [[Category:PoliticsPolitical Terms]]
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