The United States had a trade surplus with NAFTA countries of $28.3 billion for services in 2009 and a trade deficit of $94.6 billion (36.4% per year) in 2010. This trade deficit represented 26.8% of the total U.S. trade deficit. [89] A 2018 study on international trade published by the Center for International Relations identified irregularities in NAFTA trade patterns using network theory analysis techniques. The study showed that the U.S. trade balance was influenced by the potential for tax evasion in Ireland. [90] NAFTA was the largest free trade agreement in the world when it was established on January 1, 1994. NAFTA was the first time that two industrialized countries had signed a trade agreement with an emerging country. The kick-off of a North American free trade area began with U.S. President Ronald Reagan, who made the idea part of his 1980 presidential campaign. After the signing of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement in 1988, the governments of U.S.
President George H.W. Bush, Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari and Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney agreed to negotiate nafta. Both submitted the agreement for ratification in their respective capitals in December 1992, but NAFTA faced considerable opposition in both the United States and Canada. The three countries ratified NAFTA in 1993 following the addition of two related agreements, the North American Worker Cooperation Agreement (NAALC) and the North American Environmental Cooperation Agreement (NAAEC). If the Trans-Pacific Partnership of Origin (TPP) were to enter into force, existing agreements, such as NAFTA, would be reduced to provisions that do not conflict with the TPP or require greater trade liberalization than the TPP. [155] However, only Canada and Mexico would have the prospect of becoming members of the TPP after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement in January 2017. In May 2017, the remaining 11 members of the TPP, including Canada and Mexico, agreed to pursue a revised version of the trade agreement without U.S. participation. [156] From the outset, critics of NAFTA feared that the agreement would result in the relocation of U.S. jobs to Mexico, despite the additional NAALC.
NAFTA, for example, has affected thousands of U.S. auto workers in this way. Many companies have relocated their production to Mexico and other countries where labour costs are lower. However, NAFTA may not be the source of these measures. President Donald Trump`s USMCA should allay those concerns.
