free trade

American  

noun

1. trade between countries, free from governmental restrictions or duties.

2. international trade free from protective duties and subject only to such tariffs as are needed for revenue.

3. the system, principles, or maintenance of such trade.

4. Chiefly Scot. smuggling.

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free trade British  

noun

1. international trade that is free of such government interference as import quotas, export subsidies, protective tariffs, etc Compare protection

2. archaic illicit trade; smuggling

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free trade Cultural  

1. Unrestricted trade among nations without government tariffs or customs duties on imports.

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Other Word Forms

• free-trade adjective
• prefree-trade adjective

Etymology

Origin of free trade

First recorded in 1600–10

Example Sentences

But other EU countries, which are proponents of free trade, oppose the plans.

From Barron's

Uncertainty is expected to remain high this year, with the North American free trade pact up for review.

From The Wall Street Journal

Xi and Starmer also agreed to deepen trade relations in services, healthcare, green technology and finance - though no sweeping trade free trade agreement was announced.

From BBC

But its domestic policy shops continued to be valuable—for years on monetary policy and these days crucially making the case for the human and economic benefits of free trade.

From The Wall Street Journal

For decades, investors assumed economic integration would promote free trade.

From The Wall Street Journal