NAFTA's political, technical, and legal challenges

NAFTA

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was enacted in November of 1993 with the objective to facilitate the free flow of goods, services and labor between the United States, Canada and Mexico. NAFTA was not only used to eliminate tariffs between the relevant countries but it also addressed issues such as transportation, border restrictions, as well as environmental issues between the participating countries Although NAFTA required some tariffs to be dropped immediately others are subject to a fifteen year grace period. NAFTA addresses many other issues than tariffs as well as acts to open protected sectors in agriculture, energy, automotive trade, and textiles. NAFTA also establishes an international agreement on intellectual property rights.

Political Issues

There are several political issues that arouse from the passing of NAFTA. One issue that constantly gains the media's attention is its effects on jobs. For example, labor in Mexico is significantly cheaper than labor in the U.S. Therefore many citizens of the U.S. feel as if their jobs have been replaced by Mexican labor under the deal (Levi, 2009). Another issue that is consistently mentioned is boarder control and the smuggling of illegal immigrants across borders. Another issue has been the impact upon Mexican farmers. The U.S. subsidizes its agricultural industry heavily which makes the price for U.S. crops less than what Mexican farmers can produce. As a result many Mexican farmers have been forced to stop growing crops and as a result have implications for the border control issue as well.

Technical Issues

Doing business with other members of NAFTA may have several technical challenges. Different cultures and different languages spoken in various areas serves as an obvious example. Spanish is spoken in Mexico, English in the U.S. And Canada, and some parts of Canada also speak French. Another fairly obvious example involves the logistical requirements of moving goods across borders (U.S. - Mexican Chamber of Commerce, 2011). Border security often has to inspect most shipments to verify safety and as a result this can slow the process. Other technical issues may include different ways of manufacturing goods. For example, the U.S. may use different measurement and weight systems such as feet and pounds while other regions may rely on the metric system. Thus manufacturing equipment may not necessarily be compatible with those used in the other countries.