Free Trade Area

World trade today operates today under the umbrella of a wide array of regional trade agreements and/or agreements between countries that have aspects of free trade at their heart. Blocs such as the European Union, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Southern Common Market (Mercosur), the Association of South-East Asian Nations, and many others have goals that include boosting boost internal trade in goods and services between members. The World Trade Organisation database listed 178 regional trade agreements in place in March 2021.