NAFTA Should Not Take the Fall for Mexico’s Failure to Reform

James M. Roberts / February 03, 2010

Participants at a recent conference in Washington blamed Mexico’s failure to achieve above-average economic growth in the past decade on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).  This criticism is unfair and unwise.  The NAFTA agreement is one of the best examples in recent history of a successful, mainstream, and bipartisan project.  According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in the 15 years since NAFTA came into force annual U.S. trade with Canada and Mexico has tripled to nearly $1 trillion.  More than 100,000 small and medium-sized U.S. firms now employ Americans to produce goods and services for export to our NAFTA neighbors.

NAFTA was conceived by President Bush 41, ardently supported by President Clinton (at some considerable political cost to himself), and later promoted as a good model for economic development under the administration of President George W. Bush.  The discussion at the Carnegie Endowment seems to be an ideologically driven departure from something that has delivered good results and should be continued. (more…)