ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the preferential trade agreements or, the agreements, those countries negotiate in order to maximize the gains from International Trade. It analyzes the various types of trade agreements, such as bilateral trade agreements, regional trade agreements, plurilateral trade agreements and multilateral trade agreements. The chapter also discusses regionalism vis-a-vis multilateralism, using the cases that the building block and the stumbling block theories make. Multilateral agreements are those negotiated in the world trade organization Forum. Plurilateral trade agreements, as its name suggests, are those negotiated and executed among many non-neighboring countries. Bilateral trade agreements, which obviously have two parties, are the most common type of trade agreements. The number of these kinds of agreements is around 300. The difference, as its name suggests, is that in regional trade agreements its members are located in the same geographical zone or are even neighbors.
