The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which entered into force in 1994 and created a free trade area for Mexico, Canada and the United States, is the most important feature of the bilateral trade relationship between the United States and Mexico. On January 1, 2008, all tariffs and quotas on U.S. exports to Mexico and Canada were eliminated under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The three parties responsible for the formation and maintenance of NAICS are the Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia in Mexico, Statistics Canada and the United States Office of Management and Budget through its Economic Classification Policy Committee, which also includes the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Bureau of Labour Statistics and the Bureau of Census. The first version of the classification system was published in 1997. A revision in 2002 reflected major changes in the information sector. The most recent revision in 2017 created 21 new industries by reclassifying, dividing or combining 29 existing industries. Many critics of NAFTA saw the deal as a radical experiment developed by influential multinationals that sought to increase their profits at the expense of ordinary citizens of the countries concerned. Opposition groups argued that the general rules imposed by NAFTA could undermine local governments by preventing them from passing laws or regulations to protect the public interest.
Critics have also argued that the treaty would lead to a significant deterioration in environmental and health standards, promote the privatization and deregulation of key public services, and move family farmers to signatory states. An October 2017 op-ed in Toronto`s Globe and Mail asked if the U.S. wanted to renegotiate the deal or planned to walk away from it no matter what, noting that new U.S. Ambassador Kelly Knight Craft is married to the owner of Alliance Resource Partners, a large U.S. coal company. Canada is implementing a carbon plan, and there is also the issue of the sale of bomber aircraft. „Americans inserted so many poison pills into last week`s talks in Washington that they should have been charged with murder,“ columnist John Ibbitson wrote. [134] Barutciski acknowledged „that NAFTA and other investor protection agreements create an anomaly because Canadian companies whose licences have also been revoked by the same Quebec law that expressly prohibits the payment of compensation do not have the right to pursue a NAFTA claim“ and that, in this case, it would be more difficult „to obtain compensation in Canadian courts for domestic companies, since the Constitution places property rights in the hands of the provinces.“ [56] The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was inspired by the success of the European Economic Community (1957-93) in eliminating tariffs to boost trade among its members. Proponents argued that establishing a free trade area in North America would bring prosperity through more trade and production, resulting in the creation of millions of well-paying jobs in all participating countries. U.S. foreign direct investment (FDI) in NAFTA countries (equities) amounted to $327.5 billion in 2009 (latest available data) [When?], up 8.8% from 2008.
[89] U.S. direct investment in NAFTA countries has affected non-bank holding companies, as well as manufacturing, financial/insurance, and mining. [89] Canadian and Mexican foreign direct investment in the United States (equities) amounted to USD 237.2 billion in 2009 (the latest data available), an increase of 16.5% over 2008. [89] [92] The increase in new orders indicates an increase in demand for manufactured goods, which has led to an expansion of production and a higher employment rate to meet the increase in demand. Growth in the maquiladora and manufacturing industries was 4.7% in August 2016. [80] The United States accounts for three-quarters of imports and exports. From the beginning, NAFTA`s critics feared that the agreement would lead to the relocation of American jobs to Mexico despite the complementarity of the NAALC. NAFTA, for example, has affected thousands of American autoworkers in this way. Many companies have moved production to Mexico and other countries with lower labor costs. However, NAFTA may not have been the reason for these measures. President Donald Trump`s USMCA should address these concerns. The White House estimates that the USMCA will create 600,000 jobs and add $235 billion to the economy.
The previous free trade agreement between Canada and the United States had been controversial and divisive in Canada and had been treated as an issue in the 1988 Canadian election. In this election, more Canadians voted for anti-free trade parties (the Liberals and the New Democrats), but the division of votes between the two parties meant that the pro-free trade Progressive Conservatives (P.C.) with the most seats emerged from the election and thus took power. Mulroney and the Progressive Conservatives had a parliamentary majority and easily passed the Canada-U.S. free trade and NAFTA laws in 1987. Mulroney, however, was replaced as Conservative leader and prime minister by Kim Campbell. Campbell led the Progressive Conservative Party until the 1993 election, when he was decimated by Jean Chrétien`s Liberal Party, which ran on a promise to renegotiate or repeal NAFTA. Chrétien then negotiated two additional agreements with Bush, who had undermined ALC`s consultation process,[18][19] and worked to „accelerate“ the signing before the end of his term, which had run out of time and was expected to forward the necessary ratification and signature of the implementation law to the new President Bill Clinton. [20] Maquiladoras (Mexican assembly plants that collect imported components and produce goods for export) have become an important stage of trade in Mexico. They moved from the United States to Mexico, hence the debate about losing American jobs.
Revenues in the maquiladora sector had increased by 15.5% since the introduction of NAFTA in 1994. [68] Other sectors have also benefited from the free trade agreement, and the share of exports to the United States from non-border states has increased over the past five years [When?], while the share of exports from border states has decreased. This allowed for rapid growth in non-cross-border metropolitan areas such as Toluca, León and Puebla, all of which were more populous than Tijuana, Ciudad Juárez and Reynosa. .