Free Trade Area
A free-trade area is a trade bloc whose member countries have signed a free-trade agreement (FTA), which eliminates tariffs, import quotas, and preferences on most (if not all) goods and services traded between them. If people are also free to move between the countries, in addition to FTA, it would also be considered an open border. It can be considered the second stage of economic integration. Countries choose this kind of economic integration if their economical structures are complementary. If their economical structures are competitive, it is likely there will be no incentive for a FTA, or only selected areas of goods and services will be covered to fulfill the economic interests between the two signatories of FTA.
Read more about Free Trade Area: Description, Lists of Free-trade Areas, Qualifying For A Free-trade Agreement
Famous quotes containing the words free, trade and/or area:
“In action, the English have the advantage enjoyed by free men always entitled to free discussion: of having a ready judgment on every question. We Germans, on the other hand, are always thinking. We think so much that we never form a judgment.”
—Heinrich Heine (1797–1856)
“And there is no trade or employment but the young man following it may become a hero.”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)
“I am aware of the damp souls of housemaids
Sprouting despondently at area gates.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)