NAFTA

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.

Impact of NAFTA on Mexico’s manufacturing industry – Effect on Productivity, Wages rates, Incomes, and Investments in FDI

One of the goals of the free trade agreement was to provide benefits to the North american economy, especially Mexico. The U.S. hoped to make Mexico’s economy stronger and steadier, with more job opportunities. NAFTA affected the U.S. political economy due to the exports and imports being traded. In the state of Texas, export rates seem to have had an increasing. On the other hand, critics may argue that the U.S. suffers a decrease in manufacturing jobs within their own country due to cheaper competition with Mexico’s

Nonetheless, many analysts agree that NAFTA has made a mark. U.S.-Mexico trade continues to grow, and NAFTA and the promises it brings have lessened the impact of the Mexican recession and quickened its recovery. Healthy, growing bilateral trade, they say, depends on healthy, growing economies, and Mexico’s recovery and continuing economic liberalization should fuel that trend.

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 the North American Free Trade Agreement’s (NAFTA) inception, an abundance of controversy and disagreements have surrounded it. For example, in the 2008 election, both Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton wanted to renegotiate or get out of NAFTA. Similarly, the 2016 election featured Donald Trump campaigning for the renegotiation of NAFTA. He even stated in a recent presidential debate, “…[NAFTA] was one of the worst things to ever happen to the manufacturing industry” (Bloomberg, 2016). Are these important political figures justified in their statements and campaign goals? This essay will explore the background of NAFTA as well as both its the positive and negative effects in order to determine whether NAFTA has had a net positive

NAFTA also realized that it would be better for their economy if they produce there on agriculture than buying it from Mexico, since we can mass produce it. One downside to NAFTA is that Mexico has cheaper labor laws so it is easier for them to make new businesses than it would be to make the same business in the US. This can also lead to shipping problems and increased accidents when they are transporting goods over the border. The upside to these problems is that they can be fixed by both countries if it becomes to much of a problem. Once these problems are fixed they will continue to progress at achievemore in their tariffs and economy.

Most people from Mexico, just like in Veracruz, lived a simple life. Their means of income was through farming, so obviously this was their bread and butter, but not until when NAFTA, the North America Free Trade Agreement, was implemented between the United States, Mexico, and Canada (The Other Side of Immigration). Urrea states “you’d think that at least there would be beans to eat, but the great Mexican bean-growing industrial farms sold much of their crop to the United States” (45). Since then, most Mexicans, especially those people from Veracruz, was affected. Even though the primary reason for this agreement was to eliminate trade and investment barriers between Canada, U.S., and Mexico to make produce less expensive, this brought a

One of the goals of NAFTA is to a bring stronger economic growth to Mexico and limit illegal migration. As for each country, NAFTA would enhance competition for their companies (Sergie, 2016). Some positive aspects of NAFTA are that it gets rid of tariffs among the three countries. It promotes economic growth, increased profits, and jobs for all countries. It also lowers prices on imported goods (Amadeo, 2016). Promoters of NAFTA believe that it will, in some cases, improve conditions in Mexico both environmentally and economically. These promoters consist of some of the world’s largest corporations (Citizen, 2016). However, not all the effects of NAFTA are positive; many of Mexico’s farmers are now out of business, and much of Mexico’s environment has been destroyed (Amadeo, 2016). Opponents of NAFTA believe that it has destroyed thousands of good-paying jobs in the U.S., and this threatens the health, environmental, and food safety standards. These people include labor, environmental, consumer and religious groups (Citizens, 2016). As a result, NAFTA has impacted all three countries economies, both positively and

On January 1st, 1994, Canada, the United States of America, and Mexico had signed a free trade agreement, under the name - the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). This Free Trade Agreement was created to achieve its goal of eliminating barriers to trade and investment between Canada, Mexico and the United States of America. However, the question that politicians and economists of our nation are facing is whether Canada should remain in NAFTA with its partners, United States and Mexico. Despite a multitude of benefits that NAFTA is said to have by our political elites, 20 years later, it is evident the agreement has been counterproductive; which is evident by the slow move by Canadian manufacturers to Mexico, significant losses in

Since 1993, total trade between the three signatory nations has gone from $290 billion to $1.1 trillion in 2016, with foreign direct investment (FDI) in Mexico increasing by over $90 billion (“NAFTA’s Impact on the U.S. Economy,” 2016). In addition, per capita American GDP growth is estimated to have been around $400 (“NAFTA’s Impact on the U.S. Economy”). Critics, however, still have plenty of material to work with. Though American jobs created by the deal pay on average 15-20% more than jobs lost, across the border in Mexico wages have stagnated with an increase of only 400,000 new jobs (“NAFTA’S Impact on the U.S. Economy”). It is also reasonable to argue that free trade has come at the price of necessary regulation. Since companies could move operations north or south more easily, many unions lost their bargaining power and some businesses began ignoring environmental regulations (Faux, 2013). Mexican small businesses also suffered, giving rise to the claim that NAFTA could have caused more illegal immigration (Faux). As far as FDI was concerned, the U.S. and Canada benefitted significantly more than Mexico (Feils & Rahman, 2008, p. 162). Job losses in labor intensive industries like auto manufacturing were felt the most as the low wage labor became available elsewhere (“NAFTA’s Impact on the U.S. Economy”). Inevitably, these various effects created groups of winners and losers that struggled to agree on NAFTA’s true

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was designed to create trade that was mutually beneficial for all North American countries. Yet a recent change in the U.S. administration has threatened continued trade between the three major players – the U.S, Canada and Mexico. New President Donald J. Trump’s promises to renegotiate NAFTA have both Canada and Mexico on edge, and without stability, can possibly force Mexico to opt out of the agreement altogether. While NAFTA has holes in its implementation, this agreement has aided in economic growth, tripled foreign investment, and lowered prices within the US.

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