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Definition of Fair Trade

The term “fair trade” was originally used by those who supported the concept of social justice, which can be defined as the belief that justice would be determined by whatever the strongest thought it should be. This is specifically intended to identify the relationships between different aspects of international trading and some of the reasons it became necessary to put some constraints on the products that are being traded.

Fairly Traded Goods and Services

It was believed that this “social justice” would assist in the quality of the products that were being imported from other countries. Additionally, it would ensure that the quality did not suffer, regardless of where the products were made. In other words, there should no difference between buying a radio in Japan and buying a Japanese radio in the United States either in quality or in price other countries like India and China are rapidly gaining momentum to be included in this sort of scenario as well.

In short, one can say the definition of fair trade can be shortened to mean that the countries who were part of the trading had to adhere to certain predefined rules in order to assure that each importing and exporting company was doing its part to make trade fair.

Unfair Trade Practice

Of course, in the scheme of things, one wouldn’t think that it is necessary to require the use of a trade act in order to force other countries to follow the same set of guidelines, but where there is greed, there is the need for controls. These controls became necessary because of not only the greed, but because some of the traders in the international trade market saw fit to involve themselves in price gouging and even the policy of setting tariffs for products that were going to certain countries.

In addition to price gouging, there was also price fixing base quite often on the destination of the product rather than the product itself. These unfair trade practices among others necessitated the need for an organization that would set the standards for international trade and define a fair way that the trade agreements between the countries were to be handled.

Official Opposition

There are always going to be those who oppose the laws initiated by the authorities. Advocates believe that the serious gap in social justice combined with the laws for fair trading open the potential for global import and export of terrorism.

Though these concerns may be well founded and based on previous incidents that have come to become part of the world and its history, it is not a sign that one should change agreements with other countries. This is part of our history, and if we stop trading with other countries because of the threat of terrorism, economic conditions all over the world will suffer. Our economy is based on both domestically and internationally traded goods and services, and to attempt to justify non-trade through the potential of importing terrorist goods and services is, from the point of view of this organization, is ludicrous.

Continuing to Make Trade Fair

The solution to that concern might be to tighten the constraints coming from countries where there is know terrorist activity. Certainly, this may sound discriminating, but it is much better than contemplating tighter constraints on all countries because of this fear. In the meantime, we can only take as many precautions as possible to ensure that all countries do their part to make this work for all concerned.