In the past most of today's most developed economies have used policies to protect their industries from foreign competition until they were big enough to survive without support.

The free trade argument says if all trade restrictions like import tariffs and quotas were dropped each country would do what it does best and all would prosper.

The fair trade argument puts people at the centre of world trade. It says that trade rules should allow people to work themselves out of poverty by selling their products to rich countries and other developing countries at a decent price. They should also be able to protect their economies until such time as they are established enough to compete with the more developed countries.

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The Rigged Rules of Free Trade:

Dumping: The rich world tells the poor world to get rid of subsidies, but
continues to spend $1 billion a day subsidizing its own farming enterprises.

Market Access: If Africa, East Asia, South Asia, and Latin America each increased their share of world exports by just one per cent, the resulting gains could lift 128 million people out of poverty.

Forced Liberalization: Millions of poor farmers in developing countries cannot earn a living because of cheap, often dumped, food imports.

Labor Rights: Globalization and trade have drawn millions of women in developing countries into paid work. Their labor is contributing to rising global prosperity and to the profits of some of the world's most powerful companies. But women workers are systematically being denied their fair share of the benefits from their labor.

Patents: Increased patent protection for companies in rich countries costs developing countries $40 billion each year.

Click on the green text to find out more about each concept.