Course Summary
NAFTA will remove most barriers to trade and investment among the United States, Kanada, and Mexico ...
In January 1994, Mexico joined
Canada and the
United States in the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), which will phase out all tariffs over a 15-year period.
In 1994, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into effect,
creating one of the world’s largest free trade zones and laying the foundations
for strong economic growth and rising prosperity for Canada, the United States,
and Mexico.
Under NAFTA, merchandise trade between the U.S., Canada and Mexico has tripled,
reaching US$946.1 billion in 2008. Today NAFTA covers a North American economy
with a combined output of US$17.0 trillion.
Today, the NAFTA partners exchange about US$2.6 billion in goods each day—that’s
about US$108 million per hour.
The NAFTA region is home to 444.1 million people, 33.3 million of whom live in
Canada, 304.1 million in the United States, and 106.7 million in Mexico.
Sample of the Course:
The highest starting tariff was 20% and it is being reduced each year in
accordance with the NAFTA program. Since its implementation in 1994, tariffs
have been eliminated on 84.5% of all non-oil and non-agricultural Mexican
exports to the United States and 79% of exports to Canada. The current duty free
temporary import programs were eliminated as of January 1, 2001 for trade
between Mexico, have been United States and Canada.
Under the NAFTA, all non-tariff barriers to agricultural trade between the
United States and Mexico were eliminated. In addition, many tariffs were
eliminated immediately, with others being phased out over periods of 5 to 15
years. This allowed for an orderly adjustment to free trade with Mexico, with
full implementation beginning January 1, 2008.
The agricultural provisions of the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement, in
effect since 1989, were incorporated into the NAFTA. Under these provisions, all
tariffs affecting agricultural trade between the United States and Canada, with
a few exceptions for items covered by tariff-rate quotas, were removed by
January 1, 1998.
Mexico and Canada reached a separate bilateral NAFTA agreement on market
access for agricultural products. The Mexican-Canadian agreement eliminated most
tariffs either immediately or over 5, 10, or 15 years. Tariffs between the two
countries affecting trade in dairy, poultry, eggs, and sugar are maintained.
NAFTA, North American, Free, Trade, Agreement, TLCAN, remove, barriers, investment, among, United States, Kanada, Mexico
