Commanding Heights Episode 3 Summary

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is an international agreement between Canada, America and Mexico. This agreement took effect in January 1994 and was signed by President Bill Clinton. This agreement brought great changes in trade volumes and open new opportunities for millions of labours. Later, in January 2008 according to the schedule all duties and restrictions were eliminated. About 45,000 tariffs were eliminated in 1994 and only 3000 were left until 1999.

The “Battle’ in this documentary is basically the struggle between free market and increased government control in the era characterized by globalization. These economic revolutions that would follow would turn out to determine the future of our planet. Essentially, it was John Maynard Keynes v. Friedrich von Hayek, two of the most well-known economists of their time. Keynes could see the faults of free market in the time after the war and that all of those errors could be fixed if the government regulated the economy. However, Hayek thought that the free market would fix itself, with no government control. World War I laid a whole continent to waste and drew attention to the problems of political organization. People were looking for

NAFTA makes North America formed a more open trade in services market, in many complex and highly

After 27 months of negotiation, the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a trade agreement between the three north American countries: Canada, United States, and Mexico, was put into effect on January 1st 1994. NAFTA was developed to increase trade among the three north American countries while simultaneously promoting each countries’ economy growth. However, the United States faces a new government, and President Trump believes that NAFTA should be renegotiated to modernize the trade agreement instead of removing U.S participation. Some of these renegotiations, include: Trade in goods, Investment, Digital Trade, Cross-Border Data Flows, Government Procedure, etc, take into account the changes in the economy since 1994. This new

Preceding the Great Depression, the United States went through a glorious age of prosperity, with a booming market, social changes, and urbanization; America was changing. At the end of the 1920’s and well through the 1930’s, America was faced with its greatest challenge yet; the 1929 stock market crash. It would be the end of the prosperity of the “Roaring Twenties”. Now the American government and its citizens were faced with a failing economy. President Herbert Hoover was clueless to how to approach the problem. Hoover believed that government works best when it governs less, and should not intervene in the economy. Traditionally, he stayed out the issue hoping that the economy would fix itself; it didn’t. Hoover’s inaction makes his presidency look ineffective as if he caused the Great Depression. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) succeeded Hoover as president. Like Hoover, FDR didn’t know exactly how to help the economy. Unlike Hoover, FDR introduced experimental ideas and programs to help solve the issue. These ideas and programs would become a part of Roosevelt 's policies known as the New Deal which sought to fix America’s economic struggles. Despite short term successes, the New Deal implemented during the 1930 's by FDR did not lift the United States out of the Great Depression. Instead by intervening in the economy, and creating huge debt, the New Deal prolonged the Great Depression.

The NAFTA was a trade agreement between the United States, Mexico, and Canada. It was signed into office in 1993. Granting free trade and no tariff tax on products being imported into the United States. NAFTA was heavily criticized by Ross Perot, who argued that Americans would hear a “giant sucking sound”

Three years after the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) created the largest free trade area in the world, the debate rages on.

NAFTA was established in 1992 and came into effect January 1st 1994. NAFTA was created to eliminate or reduce any tariffs between the three countries. It was formed to uphold greater trade between three countries "the increase in agricultural trade was doubled after the eight- to 12-year 'phase-in' period” (Grant, newswise). It promoted conditions of fair competitions, it also increased investment opportunities. NAFTA shows how free trade increases wealth and competitiveness,delivering real benefits to families, farmers, workers, manufacture and consumers. The impact of NAFTA on trade relations between Canada and the U.S. is more difficult to measure because the two countries had a free trade deal even before. NAFTA has helped boost agriculture flows between the two

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.

Clinton won, and his plan was put into action. The labor unions gave Bill Clinton the support he needed to win. NAFTA led to a huge increase in the amount of trade between the three countries. Likewise, each country had significant GDP growth that was directly attributable to the freer trade. The biggest growth was in Mexico, in wealth and employment.

The North American Free Trade Agreement or as its most commonly known NAFTA “is a comprehensive rules-based agreement between the United States, Canada, and Mexico”, that came into effect on January 1,1994. All three countries signed it in December of 1992; later on November of 1993 it was ratified by the United States congress. NAFTA was not only used in cutting down on tariffs between both countries but it also help deal with issues such as Transportation, Border Issues, and Environmental Issues between these two countries. NAFTA changed some tariffs immediately and within fifteen years other tariffs will fall to zero. NAFTA was not created to just lower tariffs it was also created to open protected sectors in agriculture, energy,

     There are various trade agreements the United States have with many other countries and I will do a brief overview of a few of them. The most noticeable one is the North American Free Trade Agreement, which include the United States, Mexico, and Canada. This agreement was constructed and approved in January of 1992 and formed the largest free trade area. NAFTA eliminated and reduce tariffs and non-tariff barriers in addition to comprehensive provisions in the way trade was conducted between these countries.

Being the world 's largest economy, the United States is also largest exporter and importer of goods and services. American economic growth relies heavily on trade. According to a recent report on NAFTA, “Since 1992, nearly 20 million new jobs have been created in the U.S., in part due to the 1994 NAFTA agreement. Total trade between the NAFTA partners -- the U.S., Canada, and Mexico -- rose from $293 billion in 1993 to more than $475 billion in 1997, and has increased since. ” (Bowman, Free Trade). It is obvious evidence that international trade is beneficial to the US economy, at least in the 1990s.

Globalization has become one of the most influential forces in the twentieth century. International integration of world views, products, trade and ideas has caused a variety of states to blur the lines of their borders and be open to an international perspective. The merger of the Europeans Union, the ASEAN group in the Pacific and NAFTA in North America is reflective of the notion of globalized trade. The North American Free Trade Agreement was the largest free trade zone in the world at its conception and set an example for the future of liberalized trade. The North American Free Trade Agreement is coming into it's twentieth anniversary on January 1st, 2014. 1 NAFTA not only sought to enhance the trade of goods and services across