A free trade area is the region encompassing a trade bloc whose member countries have signed a free trade agreement (FTA). Such agreements involve cooperation between at least two countries to reduce trade barriers, import quotas and tariffs, and to increase trade of goods and services with each other. If natural persons are also free to move between the countries, in addition to a free trade agreement, it would also be considered an open border. It can be considered the second stage of economic integration.
A trade agreement is a wide-ranging taxes, tariff and trade treaty that often includes investment guarantees. It exists when two or more countries agree on terms that help them trade with each other. The most common trade agreements are of the preferential and free trade types, which are concluded in order to reduce tariffs, quotas and other trade restrictions on items traded between the signatories.
The South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) is a 2004 agreement that created a free-trade area of 1.6 billion people in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka with the vision of increasing economic cooperation and integration.
A preferential trade area is a trading bloc that gives preferential access to certain products from the participating countries. This is done by reducing tariffs but not by abolishing them completely. It is the first stage of economic integration.
A free-trade agreement (FTA) or treaty is an agreement according to international law to form a free-trade area between the cooperating states. There are two types of trade agreements: bilateral and multilateral. Bilateral trade agreements occur when two countries agree to loosen trade restrictions between the two of them, generally to expand business opportunities. Multilateral trade agreements are agreements among three or more countries, and are the most difficult to negotiate and agree.
The Mainland and Macau Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, or Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) for short, is an economic agreement between the Government of the Macau Special Administrative Region and the Central People's Government on October 18, 2003. A similar agreement, known as the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, was signed between the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China, signed on June 29, 2003.
New Zealand is party to several free trade agreements (FTAs) worldwide.
The Comprehensive Economic Partnership for East Asia (CEPEA) is a Japanese led proposal for trade co-operation, free trade agreement, among the 16 present member countries of the East Asia Summit. All those movements and efforts were taken over by the following Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
A commercial policy is a government's policy governing international trade. Commercial policy is an all encompassing term that is used to cover topics which involve international trade. Trade policy is often described in terms of a scale between the extremes of free trade on one side and protectionism on the other. A common commercial policy can sometimes be agreed by treaty within a customs union, as with the European Union's common commercial policy and in Mercosur. A nation's commercial policy will include and take into account the policies adopted by that nation's government while negotiating international trade. There are several factors that can affect a nation's commercial policy, all of which can affect international trade policies.
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership is a free trade agreement among the Asia-Pacific nations of Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The 15 member countries account for about 30% of the world's population and 30% of global GDP, making it the largest trade bloc in history. Signed in November 2020, RCEP is the first free trade agreement among the largest economies in Asia, including China, Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea.
The Korea–Australia Free Trade Agreement (KAFTA) is a bilateral agreement seeking to reduce trade and investment barriers between Australia and South Korea. The agreement, which came into effect on the 12th of December 2014 provides Australian goods exporters, service providers and investors with significantly improved access to the South Korean market. The trade agreement stems from decades of bilateral relations, encompassing security, trade and diplomatic ties from 1962, when then President Park Chung-Hee introduced a series of five-year plans designed to spur globalisation efforts and industrial development in Korea following the end of the Korean War.
The Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) is a free trade agreement between Singapore and India to strengthen bilateral trade. It was signed on 29 June 2005.
The Turkey-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement is an under-negotiation free trade agreement between Pakistan and Turkey.
South Korea has concluded free trade agreements (FTAs) and other agreements with a trade component with countries around the world and is negotiating with others.
The free trade agreements of Israel represent Israel's cooperation in multinational trade pacts and participation in the global economy. Israel's first free trade agreement was signed in 1985 with the United States of America. Since then, Israel has signed 16 free trade agreements with 48 countries and economic blocks such as the European Union, the European Free Trade Association and Mercosur.
The Australia-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (AI-CECA) is a bilateral agreement between Australia and India. The two nations launched negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement in May 2011. On 2 April 2022, an interim agreement was signed by Ministers Dan Tehan, representing the Morrison government of Australia and Piyush Goyal, representing the Modi Government of India.
The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) is an economic initiative launched by U.S. President Joe Biden on May 23, 2022. The framework launched with fourteen participating founding member nations in the Indo-Pacific region with an open invitation for other countries to join.
"Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement" is the first trade agreement between India and Australia. Piyush Goyal Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles said while addressing a press conference on the ECTA. Australia has approved the trade pact between these two countries in its Parliament.
The Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) succeeded the Multi Fibre Arrangement (MFA), and facilitated the gradual dismantling of quotas for world textile trade that the MFA had put into place. Thus, the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) stipulated a systematic and progressive elimination of the Multi Fiber Arrangement (MFA) over a span of ten years. This process culminated on 1 January 2005.
