A Brief Note On The North American Free Trade Agreement

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has boosted the US economy growth by introducing free trade with Mexico and Canada. Since, after the implementation of NAFTA in 1994, US have experienced several favourable outcomes. The imports and exports of agricultural goods, electronic equipment, machinery, automobiles, drugs, oil and minerals have been increased among the NAFTA countries thus giving rise to total profits. The agreement has also contributed in eliminating the unemployment in United States and has controlled inflation rates. NAFTA bloc has also created number of job opportunities in the country. Moreover, the consumer prices have been decreased and income levels of US citizens have been raised due to reduced tariffs and taxes. This paper will discuss the facts and figures since 1993 and show how United States has achieved benefits with NAFTA agreement.

In 1994, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was enacted between two industrial countries and a yet still developing nation. This was an agreement that was the first of its kind due to the relationship that the countries had and the investment opportunities that it presented. The United States, Canada, and developing Mexico decided to work towards eliminating most tariffs and non-tariff barriers between the three in order to increase the flow of trade in goods and services. Since its enactment NAFTA has led to the providing of over 40 million more jobs throughout the countries, and it has also tripled merchandise trade between the three participants to an astounding $946 billion USD in 2008 (NAFTA Now). However even then it is still not very clear whether enacting NAFTA was worth the time and effort and in fact the United States may have been better off not having joined NAFTA.

The North American Free Trade Agreement, commonly known as the NAFTA, is a trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico launched to enable North America to become more competitive in the global marketplace (Amadeo, 2011). The NAFTA is regarded as “one of the most successful trade agreements in history” for its impact on increases in agricultural trade and investment among the three contracting nations (North American Free Trade Agreement, 2011). Supporters and opponents of the NAFTA have argued the effects of the agreement on participating nations since its inception; yet, close examination proves that NAFTA has had a relatively positive impact on the economies of the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

When countries have needs but not the capacity to satisfy those demands they enter into trading through the exchange of surplus, produce to help their trading partners. Canada, Mexico, and the United States created a treaty to establish a relationship that can benefit everyone in this process known as NAFTA. This agreement has been criticized and has been blamed for hurting the US economy more than helping. Although speculations may be misguided, I do not know much about this agreement, and I must research multiple sources. This paper seeks to understand if NAFTA has produced significant benefits for Canada, Mexico, and the United States economies.

Since its creation in 1994, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is a major issue of debate in the United States. The most important issue with NAFTA is how the agreement affects the U.S. economy. NAFTA has had a broad impact on the U.S. economy through creative destruction, globalization, job restructuring, and isolationism. All of these components have had both positive and negative influences on the U.S. economy. Creative destruction creates new jobs to replace the ones that were originally ended by NAFTA, globalization expands ideas, products, and business, but also causes the U.S. to lose money, job reconstruction recreates jobs to fit the functions of NAFTA and sometimes causes workers to lose their original jobs, and isolation

Unlike the United States 7.25/hr minimum wage, Mexico’s minimum wage is set at just few dollars per day. Careless of the American working class, large corporations closed factories in the US and moved them south of the border to Mexico where they could pay workers a minimum wage and not have to conform to regulations. Since Mexico was added, the US manufacturing sector has outsourced five million jobs (Blecker). Many of these workers did not have a backup plan or funds to support them after they lost their job therefore they fell into extreme poverty. Sadly, these workers could not provide for their families and struggled to survive. Not only did NAFTA ruin the US manufacturing job market, the trade deficit between the USA and Mexico grew exponentially and now sits at an unfathomable amount. The deficit took a turn for the worse due to NAFTA, the United states had a 1.7 billion dollar surplus in 1993 (prior to Mexico’s addition), to a 54 billion dollar deficit by 2014 (Mcbride). Clearly, the United States lost a significant amount of currency due to NAFTA. Although the US is commonly on the losing side of trade deals, NAFTA is by far the most detrimental to the

The North American Free Trade Agreement promised millions of new jobs across North America and Mexico but failed to deliver the results. The trade agreement actually impoverished millions of Americans and Mexicans while big corporations flourished from

Even though NAFTA ultimately helps these three state’s economy, it is still criticized. From a social and domestic point of view, NAFTA’s disadvantages and criticisms are significant. NAFTA is the reason some people lose their jobs, specifically manufacturing company workers. Since it is cheaper to produce or manufacture goods in

The purpose of this document is to explore the history of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the effects NAFTA has had on Canada, the United States of America (specifically American labor and job market) and Mexico. It will also delve into the current state of NAFTA, the advantages and disadvantages to American economy and what the future holds for this historic trade agreement. NAFTA has effected many parts of the world and not just the three countries who originally signed the agreement. It has caused several negative effects for many, especially citizens of the United States; but what evidence is there of this claim.

3. I hoped to find sources which would show that the American economy did not improve that much since the NAFTA implementation and that a large percentage of American jobs were lost, which resulted in an adverse impact on the economy. I used the library database search for fifteen sources. I selected all databases, full text, peer-reviewed and scholarly articles and included the words NAFTA, economy and jobs. I also borrowed six books related to NAFTA from the local college library and then searched for five credible websites online. I used the meta search

On January 1, 1994, the long-awaited trade agreement between Canada, Mexico, and the United States came into effect. The North American Free Trade Agreement, also known as NAFTA, removes tariff trade barriers between the respective countries by arranging a duty-free trade in a variety of goods. It also protects things like copyrights, patents, and trademarks amid the three countries. The agreement made trading and producing goods easier while also working to make North America a more aggressive player in the global marketplace (Amedeo, 2011). NAFTA opened up barriers for people to reach a bigger market to prosper from.

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was passed in 1993 under President Clinton but purposed under President H.W. Bush. The agreement was first discussed in June of 1991 and included the United States, Canada, and Mexico. NAFTA sought to create a trading bloc, which through free trade and the elimination of tariffs would see economic growth. While all of the countries sought to benefit from NAFTA the United States and Mexico sought to gain the most, while each in different ways. The United States would enjoy increased investment opportunities and greater trade through a new growing market in Mexico. Mexico on the other

During the most recent race for the White House we heard very little of substance from both parties, but one thing both parties seem to agree on is that free trade has been bad for the U.S. worker. One candidate proclaimed that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has cost the United States hundreds of thousands of jobs and another distanced herself from free trade agreements all together. It has been over twenty years since the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement and many have criticized it as a bad deal for the U.S. It can be shown that NAFTA was not the major cause of job loss in the United States, but that it is beneficial for the United States, Canada, and Mexico and could be even more advantageous for all countries in the Americas.

During the most recent race for the White House we heard very little of substance from both parties, but one thing both parties seem to agree on is that free trade has been bad for the U.S. worker. One candidate proclaimed that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has cost the United States hundreds of thousands of jobs and another distanced herself from free trade agreements all together. It has been over twenty years since the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement and many have criticized it as a bad deal for the U.S. It can be shown that NAFTA was not the main cause of job loss in the United States, but that it is beneficial for the United States, Canada, and Mexico and could be even more advantageous for all countries in the Americas.

Clearly NAFTA has led to widespread job loss, with more than 200,000 U.S. workers certified as NAFTA casualties under just one narrow government program. Since the 1970's, there has been a steady trickle of