In the late 20th century, economies around the world were rapidly growing. The ones that stood out the most were China, who's success can be credited to their massive amounts of exports, and many countries in Europe, who's success can be credited to the benefits they receive as a result of the EU. To compete with these growing economies, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed in 1992 by Canada, the United States, and Mexico. NAFTA is a trade agreement that eliminates most tariffs and other trade barriers on products and services passing through these three countries.
Although NAFTA has its advantages, it has remained a controversial topic since the agreement was signed and the reason for that is clear from looking at its effects. Many of the promises that came with NAFTA never materialized, and some of its results are even the exact opposite. For America, NAFTA has resulted in $181 billion in trade deficit with Mexico and Canada, and the related loss of around a million jobs. In Mexico, over a million jobs have been lost as a result of NAFTA, mostly in the agricultural sector.
General public support for NAFTA has also decreased since it was first created. A 2012 public opinion poll found that 53 percent of Americans believe that the US should "renegotiate" or "leave" NAFTA, while only 15 percent of Americans are still in full support of it. These numbers show a clear opposition to NAFTA from the American people.
Although NAFTA was obviously created for the many trade and therefore economic advantages it brought, it also came with a variety of disadvantages for all countries involved. As NAFTA becomes more and more of a controversial topic, we must decide if its advantages are worth staying a part of it, or whether its time for renegotiations or possibly even a withdraw.
Sources:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/lori-wallach/nafta-at-20-one-million-u_b_4550207.html
https://www.thebalance.com/nafta-definition-north-american-free-trade-agreement-3306147
https://www.britannica.com/event/North-American-Free-Trade-Agreement
I really liked your blog post Ryan! The way that you separate your paragraphs is really useful because it shows different ways in which NAFTA was successful and unsuccessful. I didn't realize how much of a failure NAFTA really was, since it had lost so much money and left so many people unemployed. I also never knew how few Americans were actually in support of NAFTA, while over 50% were against it.
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