what is a free trade area 
a free trade area is a region in which several countries sign a free trade agreement and maintain little to no barriers to trade in the form of tariffs or quotas among one another free trade areas facilitate international trade and any associated gains along with the international division of labor and specialization these deals are highly criticized for costs associated with increasing economic integration and for artificially restraining free trade 1understanding free trade areascontrary to what it sounds like a free trade area isn t necessarily a physical location rather it is an agreement between a group of countries that put up few or no barriers to trade in the form of tariffs or quotas among them free trade areas tend to increase the volume of international trade among member countries and allow them to increase their specialization in their respective comparative advantages to develop a free trade area participating nations must set rules for how it will operate they must address the following questions 