"A free-trade agreement (FTA) or treaty is an agreement according to international law to form a free-trade area between the cooperating states."
Agreements between countries to reduce or eliminate trade barriers and promote free trade.
Free Trade vs Protectionism: The differences between free trade and protectionism, including the key concepts, advantages, and drawbacks of each approach.
Origins and Evolution of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs): A historical overview of how FTAs emerged and developed, along with the main drivers, models, and types of agreements.
Regional Economic Integration: The patterns, objectives, and effects of various forms of regional economic integration, such as customs unions, common markets, and economic unions.
WTO and GATT: A critical review of the roles, functions, and challenges of the World Trade Organization and its predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, in regulating global trade.
FTA Negotiation Process: The steps, actors, and issues involved in the negotiation, ratification, and implementation of free trade agreements, including the role of trade-offs and power dynamics.
Tariffs and Non-Tariff Barriers: The different types, effects, and motivations of trade barriers, such as tariffs, quotas, subsidies, technical standards, and regulatory measures.
Rules of Origin: The criteria and procedures for determining the origin of goods and products traded under FTAs, and the implications for trade diversion, tariff preferences, and value chains.
Intellectual Property and Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS): The controversies and debates surrounding the inclusion of intellectual property provisions and ISDS mechanisms in FTAs, and their impacts on access to technology and sovereignty.
Trade and Development: The linkages, trade-offs, and policy implications of trade liberalization and economic development, including the potential gains and losses for different sectors, regions, and social groups.
Trade and Environment: The interplay between trade and environmental policies, including the conflicts and synergies between economic growth, sustainability, and global climate governance.
Trade and Labor Standards: The debates and controversies over the inclusion of labor standards in FTAs, including the effects on employment, human rights, and social justice.
Digital Trade and E-commerce: The recent developments and challenges in regulating cross-border data flows, digital services, and online marketplaces, and their implications for competitiveness, privacy, and innovation.
Trade and Geopolitics: The changing dynamics and strategic interests of global and regional powers in trade negotiations and agreements, and their impact on security, diplomacy, and multilateralism.
Customs Union: :.
Free Trade Area: :.
"There are two types of trade agreements: bilateral and multilateral."
"Multilateral trade agreements are agreements among three or more countries, and are the most difficult to negotiate and agree."
"FTAs, a form of trade pacts, determine the tariffs and duties that countries impose on imports and exports with the goal of reducing or eliminating trade barriers."
"Such agreements usually 'center on a chapter providing for preferential tariff treatment', but they also often 'include clauses on trade facilitation and rule-making in areas such as investment, intellectual property, government procurement, technical standards, and sanitary and phytosanitary issues'."
"Both types of trading bloc have internal arrangements which parties conclude in order to liberalize and facilitate trade among themselves. The crucial difference between customs unions and free-trade areas is their approach to third parties."
"While a customs union requires all parties to establish and maintain identical external tariffs with regard to trade with non-parties."
"Parties to a free-trade area are not subject to such a requirement."
"Instead, they may establish and maintain whatever tariff regime applying to imports from non-parties as they deem necessary."
"In a free-trade area without harmonized external tariffs, to eliminate the risk of trade deflection, parties will adopt a system of preferential rules of origin."
"The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT 1994) originally defined free-trade agreements to include only trade in goods."
"An agreement with a similar purpose, i.e., to enhance liberalization of trade in services, is named under Article V of the General Agreement on Trade in Service (GATS) as an 'economic integration agreement'."
"However, in practice, the term is now widely used in political science, diplomacy, and economics to refer to agreements covering not only goods but also services and even investment."
"Environmental provisions have also become increasingly common in international investment agreements, like FTAs."
"Such agreements usually 'include clauses on trade facilitation and rule-making in areas such as investment, intellectual property, government procurement, technical standards, and sanitary and phytosanitary issues'."
"Multilateral trade agreements are agreements among three or more countries."
"Such agreements usually 'include clauses on trade facilitation and rule-making in areas such as investment, intellectual property, government procurement, technical standards, and sanitary and phytosanitary issues'."
"In a free-trade area without harmonized external tariffs, to eliminate the risk of trade deflection, parties will adopt a system of preferential rules of origin."
"An agreement with a similar purpose, i.e., to enhance liberalization of trade in services, is named under Article V of the General Agreement on Trade in Service (GATS) as an 'economic integration agreement'."
"Environmental provisions have also become increasingly common in international investment agreements, like FTAs."