Obama's complaint, ultimately, is with the long-term liberalization of the Mexican economy. Beginning in the mid-1980s, Mexico joined the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, lowered its tariff rates, reduced restrictions on foreign investment and deregulated state industries. As a result, both U.S. exports to and imports from Mexico grew rapidly prior to NAFTA. Full Story »
Posted by Kaizar Campwala
Basically a right wing echo of talking points with shallow and misleading statistics devoid of valid models of cause and effect. Neglects that NAFTA benefits, such as they are, go to the rich corporations in both countries. NAFTA rules coupled with US subsidies for large agribusiness have resulted in Mexican food imports that have devastated small farmers in Mexico; amplifying poverty, sweatshops, and illegal immigration to the US.
The center of the article is NAFTA and Obama's record on NAFTA. When it is focused, it is interesting and informative.
This carefully researched article presents the actual facts about trade. The author points out that the U.S. economy has grown and unemployment has dropped substantially since the trade restrictions began to be removed in the late 1970s and the trends have continued through the present. Trade restrictions always harm the country putting them in place, as is currently the case for commodities such as sugar which are more expensive for working people than they should be.
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