The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was a pact eliminating most trade barriers between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico that went into effect on January 1, 1993.1 Some of its provisions were implemented immediately, while others were staggered over the 15 years that followed.
U.S. President Donald Trump railed against it during his campaign, promising to renegotiate the deal and “tear it up” if the United States couldn’t get its desired concessions. A newly negotiated United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement was approved in 2020 to update NAFTA.2
But why did Trump and many of his supporters see NAFTA as “the worst trade deal maybe ever” when others saw its main shortcoming as a lack of ambition and the solution as yet more regional integration?
What was promised? What was delivered? Who were NAFTA’s winners, and who were its losers? Read on to find out more about the history of the deal, as well as the key players in the agreement, and how they’ve been faring.
