Free Trade and Fair Trade Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Free Trade and Fair Trade - Essay Example This unequivocal position, he views any and all tariffs as anathema to the enjoyment of the benefits of free trade, and an injustice to the consumer who deserves access to the best valued goods and services at the most economical prices. Milton believes that the consumer’s interest is paramount, and any other policy consideration inconsistent-valued his interest is distortionary. An interesting assertion in the article is the principle attributed by Friedman to Adam Smith, that citizens from a nation benefit from importing as much as it can and exporting as little as possible. Friedman interprets this as getting as much value as possible with deploying as little, thus accumulating value within the country’s borders. Fried Fair Trade. Stiglitz and Charlton proceed on the premise that trade can be a positive force for development. However, it is their position that liberalization should be carefully managed. The position of Stiglitz and Charlton is that the Washington Con sensus prescribed developing countries to expeditiously adopt a system of reduced tariffs and trade barriers, entailed unforeseen cost to these countries in what amounted to the unwarranted rapid and indiscriminate liberalization of their markets. The undue haste and lack of careful stewardship in the adoption of free trade policies have resulted to an unfair advantage on the part of developed countries. For instance, after the Uruguay Round, developed countries came away with a disproportionately greater part of the gains particularly on the issues of the reduction of textile protection and of tariff and subsidy reduction on agricultural goods. This left developing countries at a gross disadvantage for which they met succeeding trade negotiations with much less enthusiasm and volition.