North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is a rules-based trilateral agreement between Canada, Mexico, and the United States in [Page 2504]which the three nations pledged to improve international trade and comity by reducing trade barriers against one another. NAFTA, which celebrated its 20th anniversary on January 1, 2014, is an example of regional economic integration combining three sovereign nations. Although Canada, Mexico, and the United States are arguably at different levels of economic development, NAFTA facilitated development of a multilateral North American trading bloc. NAFTA’s precursor was the Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement, enacted in 1989 between the United States and Canada.