NAFTA’s Economic Impact In 1994, the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Its purpose was to remove barriers between the three nations in order to make trade easier, which in turn would be beneficial to all. Why is NAFTA so controversial? Some people claim due to the trade agreement, too many jobs were lost here at home in the US. The article titled, “NAFTA’s Economic Impact”, published on The Council on Foreign Relations, shows us how each economy has fared since NAFTA’s inception.
The United States The United States has seen significant positive changes from the enactment of NAFTA. In the more than two decades since, U.S trade with Canada, and Mexico has more than tripled compared to the U.S and the rest of the world. It is also believed that some 14 million jobs rely on trade with Canada and Mexico alone. For the U.S in regards to American food and agriculture, exports to Mexico and Canada grew by 450 percent. In 2016, nearly $43 billion worth of food and agriculture were exported to our NAFTA partners, making them the largest consumers of U.S agriculture. With most things there are tradeoffs. A 2014 study of NAFTA’s effects showed that on average 15,000 jobs are lost each year due to the pact.
Canada
…show more content…
In 1993, U.S investment in Canada was roughly $70 billion and has since grown to about $368 billion as of 2013 according to the Council on Foreign Relations. Canadian agricultural trade with the U.S and Mexico has gone up 95 percent. Canadian meat exports to Mexico has increased from $4 million in 1997 to $200 million as of 2016. Canadian exports of mixes, dough, cereals and bakery goods has also increased significantly and it has been reported that they now have comparative advantage in this type of food processing. Aside from all the positive effects, trade disputes have been common between the U.S and