The liberalization of international trade has been crucial to the economic development and growth of countries since the 18th century, as GDP growth in many, especially smaller countries, is increasingly dependent on external demand. The World Trade Organization and a number of bilateral and multilateral FTAs play an important role in facilitating trade and removing barriers to trade. The arguments that support free trade are, for example, specialization of countries, increase in demand and employment, higher productivity, more foreign investment, etc. In times of economic crises, free trade is also mentioned as one of the reasons for them, which can lead to sympathy with protectionist measures. The arguments developed by protectionism are job loss and structural unemployment, inability to develop an (infant) industry, demand shifting to the cheapest, price dumping, increased competition, etc. However, statistics show the importance of openness to trade for economies. It is this openness between EU Member States that has made the EU one of the world's leading economies today. Free trade has lifted demand in the EU, boosting economic momentum. EU's most important foreign trade partners are China and the US. With the latter, the EU wanted to conclude a Transantlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, in short TTIP, from 2013 to the beggining of 2019. The agreement did not come to light due to arguments, which were also protectionist, and, therefore, fear of the effects.
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