NAFTA has boosted Mexican agricultural exports to the United States, which have tripled since the pact was implemented. Hundreds of thousands of jobs in the automotive industry have also been created in the country and most studies [PDF] have found that the agreement has increased productivity and reduced consumer prices in Mexico. The North American Free Trade Agreement www.trade.gov/export-solutions (NAFTA) is a three-country agreement negotiated by the governments of Canada, Mexico and the United States that came into force in January 1994. NAFTA eliminated most tariffs on goods traded between the three countries, with a focus on trade liberalization in agriculture, textiles and automobiles. The agreement also aimed to protect intellectual property, establish dispute resolution mechanisms and implement labour and environmental protection measures through ancillary agreements. On November 30, 2018, the USMCA was signed as planned by the three parties at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires. [58] [59] Disputes over labour rights, steel and aluminum prevented ratification of this version of the agreement. [60] [61] Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lightizer, and Mexican Under-Secretary of State for North America Jesus Seade officially signed a revised agreement on December 10, 2019, ratified by the three countries on March 13, 2020.

In late 2019, the Trump administration received support from Democrats in Congress for the USMCA, after agreeing to strengthen the implementation of the work. In the updated pact, the parties agreed on a number of changes: the rules of origin for the automotive industry have been strengthened, so that 75% of each vehicle must come from the Member States, compared to 62.5%; and new work rules have been added, which require 40 percent of each vehicle from factories that pay at least $16 an hour. A proposal to extend intellectual property protection for U.S. pharmaceuticals – a red line for U.S. negotiators – has been sacrificed. The USMCA is also upgrading the controversial investor-state dispute settlement mechanism, eliminating it completely with Canada and limiting it to certain sectors with Mexico, including oil and gas and telecommunications. The Trump administration`s office proposed the USMCA citing new measures for digital commerce, strengthening the protection of trade secrets and adapting the rules of origin of automobiles among the benefits of the trade agreement. [112] Many economists argue that the current level of TAA funding is largely insufficient to cope with the increase in trade-related job losses.