Pros And Cons Of Free Trade Agreements

2110 Words9 Pages
1. Introduction

The speed at which knowledge is shared is rapidly increasing in today’s global economy and lets the world move closer together. One of the key drivers in this process is global trade: Importing and exporting goods and services is becoming more important, not only for global players, but also for countries, which seek to establish free trade agreements with other nations to import and export as effectively as possible. Erixon held that “Every country with a stake in world trade is now negotiating bilateral free trade agreements”, describing the current demand such contracts (Erixon, 2013, S. 18).

Free trade agreements are pacts made between two or more countries with the main intention of increasing trade, which essentially contributes to growth and more jobs in an economy. Trade agreements enable countries to focus on industries they have a comparative advantage in and to produce those goods they more effective in making. The effective balance between imports and exports provides consumer’s greater access to cheaper and higher quality goods and services.
The largest trade agreements in the world include GATT and NAFTA. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was introduced in 1947 and included 23 member nations. It proved to be the most effective instrument in liberalizing the global trade in the second half of the 20th century. In 1994 the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was implemented and included Mexico, Canada, and the USA. The