Bill Clinton made it's legislative passage a priority in 1993
Bill Clinton was president when NAFTA was passed by the legislature.
The plan was drafted by BUsh, and never altered by Clinton before being passed.
North American Free Trade Agreement
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"NAFTA" redirects here. For other uses of the acronym, see Nafta (disambiguation).
The North American Free Trade Agreement
Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte
Accord de libre-échange nord-américain
Secretariats Mexico City, Ottawa and Washington, D.C.
Official languages English, French and Spanish
Membership Canada
Mexico
United States
Establishment
- Formation 1 January 1994
Area
- Total 21,783,850 km² (1st)
8,410,792 sq mi
- Water (%) 7.4
Population
- 2008 estimate 445,335,091 (3rd)
- Density 20.4/km² (195th)
52.9/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2007 (IMF) estimate
- Total $15,857 billion (1st)
- Per capita $35,491 (14th)
GDP (nominal) 2007 (IMF) estimate
- Total $15,723 billion (2nd)
- Per capita $35,564 (18th)
Website
http://www.nafta-sec-alena.org
The North American Free Trade Agreement (Spanish: Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte [TLCAN], French: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain [ALENA]) is a trilateral trade bloc in North America created by the governments of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has two supplements, the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) and The North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC). The agreements came into effect on January 1, 1994. In terms of combined purchasing power parity GDP of its members, as of 2007 the trade bloc is the largest in the world and second largest by nominal GDP comparison.
Contents [hide]
1 North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation
2 North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation
3 Further integration
4 History of the implementation
5 Effects
5.1 Trade
5.2 Industry
5.3 Environment
5.4 Agriculture
5.5 Mobility of persons
6 Criticism and controversies
6.1 Canadian disputes
6.1.1 Canadian government challenged on change in Income trust taxation
6.2 U.S. deindustrialization
6.3 Impact on Mexican farmers
6.4 Chapter 11
6.5 Chapter 19
6.6 Chapter 20
6.7 Chapter 14
7 Public opinion
8 Travel and migration
8.1 United States and Canada
8.2 The United States and Mexico
9 See also
10 References
11 External links
[edit]North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation
The North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) was a response to environmentalists' concerns that the United States would lower its standards if the three countries did not achieve consistent environmental regulation. The NAAEC only obligates parties to enforce their own environmental laws. The NAAEC, in an endeavour to be more than a set of environmental regulations, established the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation, a mechanism for addressing trade and environmental issues, the North American Development Bank (NADBank) for assisting and financing investments in pollution reduction, and the Border Environmental Cooperation Commission (BECC). The NADBank and the BECC have provided economic benefits to Mexico by financing 36 projects, mostly in the water sector.[1]
[edit]North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation
The North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC) supplements NAFTA and endeavors to create a foundation for cooperation among the three countries for the resolution of labor problems, as well as to promote greater cooperation among trade unions and social organizations in order to fight for improved labor conditions.
[edit]Further integration
While different groups advocate for a further integration into a North American Community, sensitive issues have hindered that process. The three countries have pursued different trade policies with non-members (for example, Mexico has signed FTAs with more than 40 countries in 12 agreements), making the possibility of creating a customs union difficult to accomplish. Former President Vicente Fox of Mexico had promoted the idea of enhancing NAFTA (into what he labeled "NAFTA-Plus", or possibly a North American Community), but after the September 11, 2001 attacks, priorities in the United States changed. The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America was signed, instead, as a separate and unrelated agreement.
Given the scope of the agreement, which includes very sensitive issues in trade talks such as agriculture liberalization and environment regulation, few countries have shown interest in joining NAFTA. Instead, some countries, like Chile, preferred to negotiate three separate bilateral agreements with the three current NAFTA members, with different restrictions to liberalization of their industries and the regulation of environment protection. Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago also showed a similar interest.[2][3][4]
In an interview with Larry King on October 8, 2007, Fox described any plans for a North American single currency as a "long term, very long term" proposal. He also spoke of he and U.S. President George W. Bush's support for the Free Trade Area of the Americas as a "first step" toward "a new vision" for the Americas, "like we are trying to do with NAFTA", but then said that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez had decided to "destroy the idea".[5]
[edit]History of the implementation
President Bill Clinton signing NAFTA into law, November 1993
NAFTA was initially pursued by politicians in the United States and Canada supportive of free trade, led by Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, U.S. President George H. W. Bush, and the Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari. The three countries signed NAFTA in December 1992, subject to ratification by the legislatures of the three countries. There was considerable opposition in all three countries. In the United States, NAFTA was able to secure passage after Bill Clinton made its passage a major legislative priority in 1993. Since the agreement had been signed by Bush under his fast-track prerogative, Clinton did not alter the original agreement, but complemented it with the aforementioned NAAEC and NAALC. After intense political debate and the negotiation of these side agreements, the U.S. House of Representatives passed NAFTA on November 17, 1993, by 234-200 vote (132 Republicans and 102 Democrats voting in favor; 43 Republicans, 156 Democrats, and 1 independent against),[6] and the U.S. Senate passed it on the last day of its 1993 session, November 20, 1993, by 61-38 vote (34 Republicans and 27 Democrats voting in favor; 10 Republicans and 28 Democrats against, with 1 Democrat opponent not voting -- Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), an ardent foe of NAFTA, missed the vote because of an illness in his family).[7]
[edit]Effects
Hybrid Mode
