what are the arguments against free trade 
opponents often assert that free trade invites foreign competition with domestic industries causing job loss and harming key industries in some cases free trade causes manufacturers to move their operations to countries with fewer regulations rewarding companies that cause pollution or use abusive labor practices in other cases countries with weak intellectual property laws may steal technology from foreign companies the bottom linefree trade refers to policies that permit inexpensive imports and exports without tariffs or other trade barriers in a free trade agreement a group of countries agrees to lower their tariffs or other barriers to facilitate more exchanges with their trading partners this allows all countries to benefit from lower prices and access to one another s resources 