The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is an economic pact between Canada, the United States and Mexico. Designed to eliminate all trade and investment barriers between the three countries, the agreement came into force on 1 January 1994. In addition to being one of the most ambitious trade agreements in history, NAFTA also created the world’s largest free trade area. It brought together two wealthy developed countries (Canada and the United States) with a less developed state (Mexico). The agreement built on the earlier Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA), which came into effect on 1 January 1989. After NAFTA was signed, trade and investment relations between the three countries expanded rapidly, but political co-operation remained weak. NAFTA continues to be controversial, particularly in the United States. Recently elected US president Donald Trump has threatened to renegotiate or cancel the deal. Taken from the Canadian Encyclopedia
Introduction to NAFTA
NAFTA Explained (CNN Money)
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) – Fast Facts – Government of Canada
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) – The Canadian Encyclopedia
NAFTA’s Economic Impact – Council on Foreign Relations
NAFTA History
A brief history of NAFTA (Marketplace APM)
20 Years of NAFTA (A visual timeline of NAFTA) – Global Training Centre
Important Documents
North American Free Trade Agreement (Full Text)
Overview of the Dispute Settlement Provisions
Member States
USA
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) – Office of the United States Trade Representative, Executive Office of the President
What is NAFTA, and what would happen to U.S. trade without it? – Chad P. Bown, Washington Post
Trade in Goods with NAFTA with Mexico (Consump) – United States Census Bureau
Was NAFTA Good for the United States? – Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy
Effects of NAFTA on US Employment and Policy Responses (Working Paper) – OECD Library
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (Congressional Report) – Congressional Research Service
Canada
North American free trade agreement (NAFTA) – Important news – Government of Canada
Canada’s NAFTA strategy:” Use ‘manners and muscle’ to renegotiate
Canada proposes ‘groundbreaking’ NAFTA chapter on Indigenous rights – Jorge Barrera, CBC News
Chrystia Freeland Wants to Fix the Twenty-first Century: Why Canada’s foreign-affairs minister believes saving NAFTA will help save the world – Simon Lewsen, The Walrus
Getting it Right: A people’s guide to renegotiating NAFTA – The Council of Canadians
Remaking NAFTA: Its Origin, Impact, and Future – Canadian Global Affairs Institute
Mexico
NAFTA (in Spanish) – Government of Mexico
What Mexico wants from NAFTA talks – Guy Nixon, Globe and Mail – MA
Did Mexicans benefit from NAFTA? (Aljazeera)
Mexico’s Economy Minister Guajardo on Nafta, Trade, Trump (Bloomberg)
Trade and Occupational Employment in Mexico since NAFTA (Working Paper) – OECD Library
NAFTA Renegotiations
The real problem with NAFTA explained (Marketplace APM)
What is NAFTA and why does Trump want it renegotiated? – Aljazeera
Views from Mexico, Canada & The US: Trade & NAFTA – IPSOS
Trade Balances and the NAFTA Renegotiation – Peterson Institute for International Economics
A Framework for Rethinking NAFTA – Centre for Trade and Economic Integration
Further Reading on E-International Relations
- Online Resources – Mercosur
- Online Resources – The African Union
- Online Resources – The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
- Online Resources – Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
- Online Resources – Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
- Online Resources – The Organization of American States
