Overall, the United States currently has 14 trade agreements with 20 different countries. A free trade agreement (FTA) is an agreement between two or more countries, in which countries agree on certain obligations that affect the exchange of goods and services as well as the protection of investors and intellectual property rights. For the United States, the primary objective of trade agreements is to remove barriers to U.S. exports, protect U.S. interests abroad, and improve the rule of law in partner countries or countries of the free trade agreement. A free trade agreement is a pact between two or more nations to reduce barriers to trade between imports and exports. Under a free trade policy, goods and services can be bought and sold across international borders without government tariffs, quotas, subsidies or bans. The European Union is now a remarkable example of free trade. Member States form an essentially borderless unit for trade purposes, and the introduction of the euro by most of these countries paves the way. It should be noted that this system is governed by a Brussels-based bureaucracy, which has to deal with the many trade-related issues that arise between the representatives of the Member States. Free trade agreements can once again underline the importance of maintaining and implementing competition law, transparency and due process with respect to competition policy cooperation and consultation/notification provisions, particularly where anti-competitive behaviour may have affected trade and investment between countries.
For example, New Zealand often attempts to introduce rules to restrict and discipline certain categories of subsidies that are of particular importance, including those that harm our export markets or harm the environment, such as fossil fuel subsidies or unsustainable fishing practices. New Zealand strives to implement the fundamental principles of integrating environmental objectives into the 2001 trade agreements, including the obligation not to use or weaken labour laws and the environment, trade policies, regulations and practices for trade protection purposes, or weaken them to promote trade or investment. This can create opportunities for cooperation on labour and environmental issues of common interest related to trade and a robust consultation and dispute resolution mechanism to resolve issues or disputes between the parties.