'Free' Trade
Free trade means a country's economy is run without government intervention and there are no tariffs (taxes) on trade between countries. Trade liberalisation means moving towards a system of free trade. It involves reducing government intervention in trade e.g. removing barriers to trade like tariffs and quotas, taking away subsidies for producers, privatisation of national companies and deregulation (removing regulations, like health and safety checks).
Liberalisation can be the right policy for a particular sector, in some circumstances. For instance it might create healthy competition or attract investment. But countries need to be able to decide when it is the right policy, rather than being forced to liberalise when it is not appropriate. The IMF (International Monetary Fund) believes liberalisation is the best method to help poor countries improve their economies. When the IMF loans money to a poor country it insists on trade liberalisation as a condition, regardless of the opinion of the national government. 'Free trade' is expected to lead to growth and prosperity.
Although many rich countries also advocate 'free trade', the truth is that no country has become rich without the government intervening in its economy. Governments often provided support to vulnerable industries until they were strong enough to compete on the open market (e.g. by taxing cheaper imports, to protect national production of the same goods). In fact many rich country governments continue to intervene to help their own farmers, at the same time as insisting on different rules for poor countries. It appears 'free trade' is not as 'free' in practice as the theory suggests.