A Brief History
On November 18, 1993, the US House of Representatives passed the North American Free Trade Agreement that had been negotiated by President George HW Bush in 1992. President Clinton, assuming office in January of 1993, negotiated a couple small amendments to the agreement at the behest of congressmen.
Digging Deeper
Negotiated by Mexico, the United States and Canada, the measure replaced the previous trade agreement between the US and Canada known as the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement. In Canada, most political representatives were against the NAFTA pact, but since the opposition was split between 2 groups the party that supported NAFTA prevailed.
In the United States, popular opinion has been strongly against NAFTA ever since it went into effect on January 1, 1994, and it has become a favorite issue of Republicans to attack Bill Clinton, even though the agreement was negotiated by Republican President GHW Bush and during the 8 years of the George W. Bush administration (2001-2009) the pact was not repealed or replaced. In fact, the House vote included 132 Republicans voting for the agreement and only 102 Democrats voting for it. (That preponderance of Republican support is something you would never believe in the years since!)
The incredibly complicated (to me, anyway) economic and social impact of NAFTA on each member country has generally been fairly small over all, although certain segments of the economy of each country may have benefited more or less due to the agreement. With so many assembly plants for cars and other durable products moved to Mexico, the rust belt states (around the Great Lakes) have suffered job losses in manufacturing due to the agreement. The balance of trade for the US is overwhelmingly positive for services, but for goods the US has an enormous trade deficit with Canada and Mexico. Either way, politicians love to attack NAFTA and blame it on their opponents. Still, as of yet, no credible replacement has been offered.
One stipulation you may have missed is that NAFTA allows business and people to sue the government of member countries for policies claimed to have been detrimental (violating international law and agreements) to the aggrieved company.
President elect Donald Trump has called NAFTA “The single worst trade deal ever approved.”
If you liked this article and would like to receive notification of new articles, please feel welcome to subscribe to History and Headlines by liking us on Facebook and becoming one of our patrons!
Your readership is much appreciated!
Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Boskin, Michael J., ed. NAFTA at 20: The North American Free Trade Agreement’s Achievements and Challenges. Hoover Institution Press, 2014.
Brown, Jerry and Ralph Nader. The Case Against Free Trade: GATT, NAFTA and the Globalization of Corporate Power An Earth Island Press Book. North Atlantic Books, 1993.
Corsi Ph.D., Jerome R. The Late Great USA: NAFTA, the North American Union, and the Threat of a Coming Merger with Mexico and Canada. Threshold Editions, 2009.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="14917 https://www.historyandheadlines.com/?p=14917">68 Comments
I thought that this was a neat article because of how it related to what is going on in politics right now. I don’t know or understand everything about NAFTA, but I too have a gut feeling that it was a bad idea.
Great article. This is what is needed to show what the NAFTA is all about and what people should know the perks and issues of it.
I think this is good for people who dont know what NAFTA is and what the pros and cons of it.
I agree with Montel, I think it is good for people who don’t know what NAFTA is what the pros and cons are.
Great article, Amazes me that the republicans blame Bill Clinton even though he didn’t come up with the plan.
I didn’t know what NAFTA was before this and now I’m glad I do.
As the wife of a union steel worker, I fear what Trump will bring with his views on trade and NAFTA.
I had not heard of NAFTA before, but being from the area around the Great Lakes I can relate to how it feels to lose factory jobs that were important to aid with the increase in our economy because of them going overseas and to other countries. I am curious to see what Trump does with it.
interesting to see what nafta was all about.
I do not know much about NAFTA, but I do know that a lot of businesses have moved to Mexico, costing US citizens their jobs. If President Elect Trump can make it better for the US, I am all for changing it.
I did not have a previous knowledge of NAFTA before reading this article, so it was interesting to read about this
I can’t wait to see what Trump does with NAFTA. Let’s hope he fixes it.
Any time I hear of job loss due to moving operations out of the country such as Mexico I get frustrated with whatever the cause is. In this case, I do not agree with NAFTA.
I am still having trouble with the understanding of Nafta
Interesting to learn that 132 republicans voted for NAFTA and 102 democrats voted for it.
I was honestly not sure what NAFTA is but was interesting learning about it.
I just learned what NAFTA is. I do think Trump should renegotiate it. I do not think he should pull out of it.
It’s still a bit confusing to me, but now I have more of an understanding to what Trump was always referring to in his debates.
I do not understand NAFTA, but I am sure I will be hearing more about it during this presidency.
I recall Trump speaking of NAFTA in the debates. I hope he can find a way to restructure the trade agreement.
I do not know much about NAFTA but I am sure I will be hearing more about it in the press with Trump’s views on it.
NAFTA has been a great trade agreement between North America. However, many believe that we are losing a lot of jobs to Mexico due to NAFTA.
It is important that President Donald Trump is well aware of NAFTA. I really do not have much of an opinion on NAFTA but realize that it is important that some type of change occurs.
I think that President Donald Trump saying that he thinks it is the worst trade deal ever is going to please a lot of people. Could be one of the reasons he was elected.
I do not really know much about NAFTA. I do remember Trump talking about it and I am sure I will hear more of it in the future.
Unsure of the factors of NAFTA, but I do not like that the president-elect believes that he can pull whatever trade agreements out that he chooses. If he does he could upset the wrong group of people.
I have not hard much about NAFTA as well. Since president elect Donald Trump is against it I am sure that it will make the media more often than it has.
I do have to blame NAFTA for the down fall of many companies. I believe the parts bought from other Countries are not comparable to what was being built here in the U.S. NAFTA has been the reason for many lost jobs in the U.S. My husband has been working for the same company for 31 years and they have seen first hand the detriment of NAFTA. I do not believe, however, that pulling it out all together is smart either but definitely a revamp is needed.
I think NAFTA is doing what it had to do. I look at things from both angles
I do not really know much about NAFTA or politics in general, but I am slightly afraid for the future of our country and hope that Trump makes smart decisions.
In my opinion, NAFTA promoted the economic development in North America. But, any policy should be adjusted at the specific time period.
I didn’t really know much about NAFTA, so this article helped me understand more and I believe they did what they thought was right.
I never really knew much about NAFTA until reading this.
Never Really knew about NAFTA before, but it seems help a lot about the North America’s economy.
I didn’t really understand NAFTA, but this helped.
I’m curious to see all the changes that will take place under Donald Trump as president. He plays key roles in so many areas of the government, as this article has pointed out.
Reading about NAFTA for the first time has proven to be interesting. I was unaware of this trade agreement before the article above, and have gained knowledge on the subject. As someone that does not have much involvement with politics, I was intrigued (but not surprised) by some of the subjects discussed, such as president elect Trump and his opinion on the matter.
I dont have any idea about NAFAT but I think it help
I didn’t know most political representatives were against the NAFTA pact so the opposition was split between 2 groups the party that supported NAFTA prevailed.
NAFTA is a joke and only hurt our own labor here in the U.S. It took jobs and plumented the economy.
I think that the trade agreements have to be completely rewritten so that it makes American business stronger.
There is one undeniable fact about NAFTA. It flat out helped to destroy American manufacturing. If Trump does what he says he’ll do (what politician does?) the trend of losing businesses to other countries will, at a minimum, decrease.
NAFTA was a terrible agreement. It ruined so many manufacturing jobs in the US.
I love that NAFTA was a Bush administration idea and blamed on Bill Clinton. People like to believe what they hear. Tell a lie long enough……
NAFTA hurt our economy so much. it was something we should of never agreed on.
I know there are pros and cons to NAFTA which brings a lot of opinions. I do agree it did hurt America’s jobs.
Lots of opinions on this article. There were a lot of negative and postive thought.
NAFTA has cost the US greatly and the TPP would have been just as bad. Just thank god each day HRC did not get elected. We need to abolish NAFTA and Trump has us on the right track.
Trump believes that NAFTA is one of the worst deals that we have ever made. Trump is a true business man and im sure that he will get us out of this mess.
NAFTA is the worst deal ever made for the U.S., just look around Ohio and Michigan at all the cities that have been shut down because of it.
I don’t know all of the details about NAFTA but I do know Ohio and surrounding states are hurting because of it.
The problem with NAFTA is that it took jobs out of the U.S. and put them mainly in Mexico and other countries. It opened up the possibility of outsourcing. Even though it may have been good for the economy at the time it still cost our country jobs. The rust belt is called the rust belt because this agreement took jobs away causing factories and businesses to shut down. If you drive through certain parts of the rust belt states such as Ohio you can see these rusted out old buildings. They are like tombstones meant to remind us that America use to be booming with jobs and possibilities.
I agree with President Trump that NAFTA is the worst deal ever made. Ohio is hurting terribly.
Several states are hurting because of NAFTA.
As a supporter of President Trump, I hope he knows what he is talking about. I can see it going bad either way.
NAFTA hurt the American workers, I agree with Trump.
All bad….. its all bad!!! PERIOD!!!
NAFTA was a bad deal. Allowed to many factories and jobs to pull out and relocate in Mexico.
NAFTA was definitely a horrible deal. I do agree with Trump on this one.
Ironic that an article on NAFTA made it in this week’s online readings, considering the opinion of the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
I thought NAFTA was a great idea to help with trading and possibly lower product cost. I unfortunately have never been out of this country but I feel like if I were to leave it would be to go to Canada or Mexico. It feels like they are extensions of the US.
I personally hate politics but I do remember when NAFTA was agreed upon and when I talk to my parents about what they think, they don’t like the fact that NAFTA went in effect. They blame Bill Clinton obviously, they need to check their facts again.
What doesn’t surprise me is that a Republican President negotiated the trade deal, yet the Republicans blame the Democrats for the “bad” deal. They seem to have the case of amnesia sometimes, or simply do not care to accept the facts. Nevertheless, I believe NAFTA has hurt our county, particularly in sending our manufacturing jobs out of the country and hurting our country’s steel production. I agree that it needs to be renegotiated and a fair-trade deal reached.
I don;t know much about NAFTA. But if it’s affecting American workers, I think NAFTA is a bad idea.
I don’t understand what NAFTA is all about but it sounds like the wrong man got blamed for its shortcomings.
I do not keep up with politics as much as I should but I have tried to read up on NAFTA. I have to agree with President Trump that it was not a good idea.
Any agreement that takes jobs away from the American people such as NAFTA is not a good agreement. Hopefully President Trump is able to renegotiate the policy and bring jobs back to the US.
Agreeing with Misty I do not keep up on politics as much as I should. I did not even know what NAFTA was.