CANADA, MEXICO, AND THE UNITED STATES:PROPOSED NORTH AMERICAN FREE
A far ranging free trade agreement was negotiated between Canada and the United States in the mid to late 1980s, and the Canada United States Free Trade Agreement because effective on 1 January 1989 (Cardinali, 1989). Early in 1990, the governments of both Mexico and the United States began to speak openly and favorably toward the idea of free trade between the two countries (Fenley, 1990). Almost immediately, the Canadian government indicated that any free trade agreement between Mexico and the United States would affect Canada and would affect the Canada United States Free Trade Agreement, and, thus, Canada should be a party in any free trade discussions between Mexico and the United States (Allard, 1990). Initially, the Bush Administration was publicly cool to the Canadian suggestion, indicating that it preferred bilateral agreements with its trading partners (Kuttner, 1991). In Canada, however, the Canada United States Free Trade Agreement has never enjoyed overwhelming public support, and American insistence on freezing Canada out of free trade negotiations with Mexico threatened to create significant additional problems for both the beleaguered Mulrooney Government and for the Free Trade Agreement, which is subject to unilateral cancellation by either party during the early years of its life. As a consequence, intense pressure on Washington by the Canadian government assured that Canada would be a party in the free trade negotiations with Mexico.
This research examines the proposed North American Free Trade Agreement between Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The findings of this examination are presented in three major discussions, as follows: (1) a review of the contemporary developments providing an impetus for North American free trade negotiations; (2) the perspectives of the three parties Canada, Mexico, and the United States toward Nor...