Is free trade fair?

        Free trade is a contract between countries that allow goods to be imported without tariffs, quotas or other restrictions. A tariff is a tax that is added to imports to protect goods and businesses within the original country.

Is free trade fair?

To answer this question, the effects of free trade on corporations, workers, and consumers will be discussed.

I/ Corporations

Firstly, I will talk about small businesses. Although it's an advantage to have more customers from other countries, it's widely believed that the increased competition of similar products will have an overall negative impact on small businesses.

For example CETA, a free trade agreement between Canada and Europe, may be negatively viewed  for some small businesses such as Canadian wine companies, where there is increased competition with Italian and French wine industries due to the fact that the tariffs have been removed.

On the other hand for large businesses, the increased market is seen as a great advantage. Large corporations also benefit from having a larger or cheaper selection of workers, as well as cheaper services.

Also for manufacturers, components can be bought from abroad for a smaller cost, which makes the overall product cheaper for consumers. For example, many parts of an iphone are made in many different countries – such as the touch-screen in Japan, or the processor in Korea. Without free trade these components would have a tariff associated with them, thus making the iphone more expensive for customers.

II/ Workers

        Continuing in the example of the iphone, the reason that the components are cheaper is because of less workers rights in developing countries. The iphone supply chain in China has over 200 000 employees to assemble the components. The average work is about 60h per a week, under unacceptable conditions.   The workers often do not have basic human rights, as illustrated in the given picture that shows an Asian worker who is trapped due to slave wages and no workers rights. This also results in US workers who no longer have jobs.

But on the other hand, it creates jobs that helps the economy of poor countries to grow.

III/ Consumers.

        As previously said, products under free trade agreements are cheaper for consumers. As well as this, consumers have more choice of products available from different countries. For example, fruits, vegetables or meats out of seasons are accessible at any time of the year.

        However, some products can have a worse quality when they come from less developed countries with lower manufacturing standards. For example clothes from such countries could become damaged more easily than clothes from a developed country.

        To conclude free trade is differently seen from different points of view. So “is free trade fair?” everyone has their own answer to this question. This can be seen in recent politics with the US withdrawing from TPP, which is a transpacific free trade agreement, or the United Kingdom leaving the EU. However free trade is generally seen as an advantage for commerce in a world with increased globalisation.

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