The View From Mexico
December 6, 2013
Summary:
Twenty years after the North American Free Trade Agreement came into effect, the deal has brought neither the huge gains its proponents promised nor the dramatic losses its adversaries warned of. For Mexico, NAFTA did increase exports, but its impact on spurring economic growth and creating jobs has been less clear-cut.
When the North American Free Trade Agreement was proposed, it set off a vigorous debate across the continent about its benefits and drawbacks. Today, 20 years after it came into effect, perhaps the only thing everyone can agree on is that all sides greatly exaggerated: NAFTA brought neither the huge gains its proponents promised nor the dramatic losses its adversaries warned of. Everything else is debatable.
Despite impressive trade numbers, NAFTA has delivered on practically none of its economic promises for Mexico.