Most export-minded business people – and certainly almost all politicians - enthusiastically expect Free Trade Agreements to bring them great business growth. Others, however, fear their impact, and with the growth of populism and “My Country First” ideologies, there’s been a backlash against “globalisation”.

One common thread here is that most people, whichever side they’re on, don’t understand the whole picture. That’s hardly surprising, as it’s a much more complicated subject than it might seem. Even if what the news and politicians tell us is not “fake”, it’s certainly selective. So here at Grow through International Expansion, we’re setting out to explain everything that you should know about Trade Agreements, clearly and without any prejudices.  There’s a lot to tell, so we’ve split it across four episodes and articles.

If you’re an exporter or importer you definitely need to listen – and it’s well worthwhile if you’re in any kind of business at all. But frankly, everyone should be better informed – in the UK, with Brexit predicated on the promise of future trade deals, and in the USA and other countries where trade wars are being started or threatened because of the perception that previous “deals” have given too much away.

In this episode, we’ll look at the recent history of trade deals, cut through the jargon, look at the key principles and, after all of that, get a pretty good understanding of why FTAs are so difficult to negotiate.

If you missed Episode 1, which set out the various types of Trade Agreements, you can catch it here.