Friday, August 12, 2011
THEN
On August 12, 1992, then U.S. President George H.W. Bush announces the successful completion of negotiations for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)—a trilateral trade agreement between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The agreement, goes into effect January 1994 and by 2008, the last of the remaining duties and restrictions are removed—creating the world’s largest free trade zone. Supporters of NAFTA—including many of the world’s largest corporations—herald NAFTA as a device for fostering job creation and higher living standards in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, while improving environmental conditions and stimulating economic development in Mexico. Opponents of NAFTA focus on the same issues, arguing the opposite, that the trade agreement is a key component in the driving down of wages and the loss of thousands of U.S. jobs, in addition to threatening health, environmental, and food safety standards.
NOW
Late last month, the White House signaled the increased likelihood that Congress will ratify three NAFTA-style free-trade agreements with Columbia, Panama, and South Korea when Congress returns in September. The trade agreements had been sitting dormant since being signed by President George W. Bush, during his administration. According to the Center for Trade and International Development, if passed, the trade agreements are expected to bring a $13 billion boost to U.S. export revenues. Particularly, the free-trade agreement with South Korea would be America’s largest free-trade deal since NAFTA. Public Citizen—a Washington D.C. based organization that has been a vocal opponent of NAFTA and similar free-trade agreements—argues that the three new trade deals will potentially undermine environmental, labor, and financial regulations and allow foreign corporations to attack U.S. national health laws and other laws in foreign tribunals.
