In December of 1992, Brian Mulroney of Canada, Carlos Salinas de Gortari of Mexico, and George Bush of the United states signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which will remove most barriers to trade and investment among the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The legislatures of all three countries approved the agreement in 1993 and NAFTA was implemented on January 1, 1994.

NAFTA was built upon a 1989 trade agreement between the United States and Canada, which eliminated or reduced many tariffs between the two countries. NAFTA called for immediate elimination of duties on half of all US goods shipped to Mexico and gradually phasing out other tariffs over fifteen years. The elimination of Mexican duties allows the US to supply Mexico with more US goods and to boost US jobs. The NAFTA accord is expected to raise Mexico’s wages and standard of living. Consequently, the number of unauthorized Mexican immigrants to the US is expected to decline. The agreement removed restrictions from many categories of goods such as motor vehicles and automotive parts, computers, textiles, and agriculture. Other objectives of the treaty included:

 Increase investment in the territories

However, the fast track debate was about much more than procedure. It became a referendum on the basic direction of American trade policy; on the issue of free trade vs. protectionism. On whether NAFTA was a good thing or a bad thing for Americans.

According to the Transportation Department's Inspector General's Office, 35 percent of Mexican trucks that entered the United States in 2001 were put out of service for safety violations. Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Tela Mange said “We only inspect the ones that look really, really bad…Like, ‘Oh, my God, how's that gonna stay together?’ We're only taking the worst of the worst.” According to Texas officials, only one out of every 100 rigs is checked. Nearly half the trucks checked last year were taken out of service for faulty brakes, cracked wheels, insecure loads and other flaws. (Stack)

“The NAFTA panel said the United States cannot bar the trucks from the rest of the country but can enforce safety standards different from those required for U.S. and Canadian trucks. The Bush administration missed the March 8th deadline to implement a policy acceptable to Mexico or face sanctions, if Mexico chose to impose them.” (Gamboa)

Some topics in this essay:
Canada Mexico, United Canada, Cornell University, NAFTA Michigan, NAFTA Let’s, According Texas, Revenue Canada, Mexico Arizona, Fast Track, President Clinton, free trade, fast track, mexican trucks, canada mexico, exports canada, 1993 1996, trade agreement, free trade vs, north american, issue free, issue free trade, american free, reported growth total, trade vs protectionism, virgin islands reported,