free trade

noun

: trade based on the unrestricted international exchange of goods with tariffs used only as a source of revenue

Examples of free trade in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Foreign policy hasn’t dominated a Canadian election this much since 1988, when free trade with the United States was the prevailing issue. Rob Gillies, Chicago Tribune, 29 Apr. 2025 Foreign policy hasn’t dominated Canadian elections this much since 1988, when free trade with the United States was the prevailing issue. Rob Gillies, Los Angeles Times, 29 Apr. 2025 And Pettis, a professor at Peking University in Beijing and a longtime skeptic of the free trade consensus, argues that this reckoning in global trade has been decades in the making—and considers what an alternative economic system could look like. Foreign Affairs, 24 Apr. 2025 That’s why the economist Robert Mundell argued that free trade and floating exchange rates are inherently incompatible – one justification for the creation of the Eurozone. Nathan Lewis, Forbes.com, 23 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for free trade

Word History

First Known Use

1766, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of free trade was in 1766

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Cite this Entry

“Free trade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/free%20trade. Accessed 6 May. 2025.

Kids Definition

free trade

noun
: trade between nations without restrictions (as high taxes on imports)

More from Merriam-Webster on free trade

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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