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About US-Canada-Mexico North American Free Trade Agreement 'NAFTA' Details, Features
About US-Canada-Mexico North American Free Trade Agreement 'NAFTA' Details, Features, Aim
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America.
NAFTA agreement came into force on 1st January 1994. It overrules the Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement between the U.S. and Canada.
NAFTA has two supplements: the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) and the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC).
NAFTA has reportedly been beneficial to the North American economies and the average citizen but harmed a small minority of workers in industries exposed to trade competition.
The inducement for a North American free trade zone began with US President Ronald Reagan, who made the idea part of his campaign when he announced his candidacy for the presidency in November 1979.
In 1988, Canada and the United States signed the Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and shortly afterward Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari decided to approach US president George HW Bush to propose a similar agreement in an effort to bring in foreign investment following the Latin American debt crisis.
Following diplomatic negotiations dating back to 1990, the leaders of the three nations signed the agreement in their respective capitals on December 17, 1992. The signed agreement then needed to be ratified by each nation's legislative or parliamentary branch.
The main objective of NAFTA was to eliminate barriers to trade and investment between the US, Canada, and Mexico.
The implementation of NAFTA brought the immediate elimination of tariffs on more than one-half of Mexico's exports to the US and more than one-third of US exports to Mexico.
For the US–Canada trade most was already duty-free but NAFTA sought to eliminate non-tariff trade barriers and to protect the intellectual property rights on traded products.
