Read the given passage carefully and answer the questions that follow :
In agriculturally important countries, agro products are exchanged for manufactured goods, whereas industrialised nations export machinery and finished products and import food grains and other raw materials. Foreign investment can boost trade in developing countries which lack in capital required for the development of mining, oil drilling, heavy engineering, lumbering and plantation agriculture. By developing such capital intensive industries in developing countries, the industrial nations ensure import of food stuffs, minerals and create markets for their finished products. This entire cycle steps up the volume of trade between nations.
Case for Free Trade
The act of opening up economies for trading is known as free trade or trade liberalisation. This is done by bringing down trade barriers like tariffs. Trade liberalisation allows goods and services from everywhere to compete with domestic products and services.
Globalisation along with free trade can adversely affect the economies of developing countries by not giving equal playing field by imposing conditions which are unfavourable. With the development of transport and communication systems, goods and services can travel faster and farther than ever before. But free trade should not only let rich countries enter the markets, but allow the developed countries to keep their own markets protected from foreign products.
Countries also need to be cautious about dumped goods; as along with free trade dumped goods of cheaper prices can harm the domestic producers.