Free trade refers to the importance of unrestricted market forces and fair competition in determining the balance of power between parties to a transaction. Some of the international treaties for greater freedom of trade or economic unification include NAFTA, Maastricht, WTA, and GATT.
Free trade deals with such issues as tariffs, free movement of labor and capital between countries, taxes, subsidies, and laws and regulations impacting free trade. The World Trade Organisation was created to open up markets, promote international free trade and remove barriers to trade. Free trade policies are often associated with laissez faire economic policies. Laissez faire policies are characterized by an absence of government intervention in trade, with emphasis on entrepreneurship and investment.
