African Leaders Get the Finer Points of Free Trade

At a summit, they complained that these deals allow for barriers to their products while requiring those of the industrialized nations into their markets.

Cotton is a classic case of this, where US subsidies allowed under the current regime undercut what would otherwise be competitive 3rd world supplies.

That's because "free trade" deals are really not about free trade. They are about establishing an economic regime that favors stake holders such as investors and IP holders.

If you look at the economic development of the US though, it was built on what is now called "piracy" of European, largely British, technologies.