Free Trade: is it evil?

[spudtater]

'Americans swarm to anything that's free--both literally and rhetorically--so corporate PR departments naturally employ rhetoric like "free trade" and "free markets" to advance their agendas. But it's a mystery why opponents of trade agreements that elevate corporate interests above democracy concede the terms of debate by calling for "fair trade, not free trade."

International trade agreements erect trade barriers as often as they remove them. As Wayne Andreas, CEO of agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland, said, "There is not one grain of anything in the world that is sold in the free market. Not one. The only place you see a free market is in the speeches of politicians." Well acquainted with both illegal price fixing and legally wielding political power to extract taxpayer subsidies, Andreas knows of what he speaks.'
      — ReclaimDemocracy.org: 'Stop Calling it "Free Trade!"'

It is starting to grate with me that free trade is being vilified. I think that free trade is just as politically important as fair trade, or even more so. I mean, it's all very well saying that buying european-grown sugar results in more money going to the producer, but is it morally right if the very same product was made affordable due to government subsidies supporting it, and its african competitors being taxed?

More articles:

• Oxfam: 'The Issues: Free Trade' — An easy introduction for children, or those with short attent oh look shiny!
• BBC News: 'The argument for free trade' — More in defence of free trade; economic and environmental arguments.
• Wikipedia article: 'Protectionism' — The antithesis of free trade.