International Trade

Should there be limits to international trade? "Trade creates the wealth necessary for economic development, creation of employment opportunities and the alleviation of suffering" ADDIN Mendeley Citation{ada816c1-89ad-41d9-a1f7-3348e157bd52} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "URL" : "/docrep/u8480e/U8480E0n.htm#World trade", "accessed" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2011", "8", "2" ] ] }, "author" : [ { "family" : "Loftas", "given" : "Tony" } ], "container-title" : "Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "1995" ] ] }, "title" : "Dimensions of Need", "type" : "webpage" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=ada816c1-89ad-41d9-a1f7-3348e157bd52" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Loftas 1995)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (Loftas 1995). This quote from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations underscores the fact that international trade was created for a higher value. It was developed to create profit per se, instead, international trade was designed to eradicate poverty and suffering in the world, through the reallocation of resources. It was meant to address basic economic needs so that people can go on and search for deeper meaning in their lives - using Abraham Maslow`s words - for people to reach self-actualization. The debate for and against international trade has been ongoing for years. Developed countries such as the US and UK say: nations cannot produce all goods and services it needs within its territories. If a nation wants to be prosperous, then it should open its doors to international trade. It`s time to cooperate with each other - let`s all remove the barriers to trade. Meanwhile, developing countries, which have accommodated this directive, have experienced economic failures because local industries are still incapable of competing with multinational corporations. With the developing world deep in crisis, calls for reform of the Free Trade Agenda were instituted. Let developing nations protect their infant industries - this was the battle cry of the failed third WTO conference in Seattle. Despite previous disagreements on how free trade can be achieve, most countries believe that the best system is still the free market. The imposition of tariffs can serve to increase prices, which are then passed on to consumers whereas free trade enables consumers to choose the best pr...