trade association

American  

noun

1. an association of people or companies in a particular business or trade, organized to promote their common interests.

---

trade association British  

noun

1. an association of organizations in the same trade formed to further their collective interests, esp in negotiating with governments, trade unions, etc

---

Etymology

Origin of trade association

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

trade association

On Wednesday, the BGA, Germany’s main trade association, hiked its export growth forecast for this year to 1% from 0.6%, boosted by solid demand within Europe, but signaled the global trade remained highly uncertain.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

"Today, the public authorities are quite happy a private company is doing the job, perhaps in their place," said Jacques Goisque, head of the FF3C trade association that represents a thousand independent service stations.

From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026

Water UK, the trade association for the UK's water industry, estimated, external that data centres used approximately 6.6 million litres of water per day - the equivalent used by 20,000 average homes.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026

Cody Carbone is chief executive officer of the Digital Chamber, a blockchain and digital-asset trade association.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026

He was president of the first Congress at which all the Trade Unions of England united in a single great trade association.

From Socialism: Utopian and Scientific by Friedrich Engels