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Purpose – The twenty-first-century globalizing economy and free trade regimes in Europe and North America transform regions and their economies. This paper aims to question, in comparative perspective with European experiences, whether free trade, and particularly continental economic integration in North America, impacts the economies, and leads to forms of transboundary governance. It then seeks to complement this discussion by a review of the perceptions public managers have of those developments. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is based on a review of the literature, public policy and individual interviews, and a survey of 700 private and public policy decision makers. Findings – The evidence presented in this paper suggests that increased economic interdependence has led to the emergence of trans-boundary governance. Public managers and policy-makers view those as mechanisms that ease trade and public policy relations. Originality/value – Contrary to broad assumption, North American trans-boundary policy networks are helping trade relations and facilitate policy making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper measures the impact of increasing trade openness between Mexico and the USA resulting from the North American Free Trade Agreement ( NAFTA) on the income of small versus large farmers in Mexico. Benefits resulting from higher prices of export goods as well as losses incurred from greater import competition are considered. First, relating NAFTA cuts in trade restrictions to border prices of Mexican exports and imports, it is found that NAFTA-induced tariff reductions decreased the border price of corn, Mexico's main agricultural import, and increased the border prices of tomatoes and melons, Mexico's main agricultural exports. Then, it is shown that the rise in fruit and vegetable prices benefited small farmers more than large farmers; while the drop in corn prices hurt large farmers more. Finally, the results from the regional-level analysis suggests that the effects are stronger in the central states than in the northern and southern states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that conflicting assessments of the impacts of free trade in North America are incomplete because they do not analyse these effects in light of the key long term U.S. goal: the reconstruction of U.S. hegemony that was under siege by Japan and Europe. The declining competitiveness of U.S. raw materials supply systems badly damaged U.S. hegemony during the 1970s and 1980s. The original U S. strategy was to create a continental energy market to reduce overseas oil imports, guarantee access to oil and natural gas from Canada and Mexico, and reduce price instability. The evolution into broader agreements reflected the interests of other U.S. industries and the efforts of Canadian and Mexican states and firms to capture benefits from restructuring. This paper analyses the role continental integration of raw materials industries played in strategic efforts to reconstruct U S. hegemony and the consequences of these efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

States that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is expected to have few negative aspects and many positive ones for the recycling industry in the United States. Exports of recycled products from the United States to Canada and Mexico; Tariff considerations.

Applies the specific factors model of production to manufacturing industries in Alabama to examine the pending adjustment due to the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Trends in industrial prices, import competition, and export demand.

Discusses the impact of the United States-Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA) implemented in 1989. Changing spatial structure of U.S.-Canadian trade; Use of commodity-specific analyses of tariffs and non-tariff barriers; Elasticities of demand; Estimate of sectoral and spatial changes among U.S. states in total, land, water and air commodity flows since 1988.

The article discusses whether borderless North America would destroy Canadian culture. Discussions are going on in Canada to limit imitation of American institutions regardless of whether they are political, social, or cultural. According to the article, the economists tend to neglect economic liberalization and its link with culture. The economists concluded that the fear of Canada, of being overpowered by the U.S. is unreasonable.

Discusses the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and looks at the trade relationship between the United States (U.S.) and Mexico. Impact of trade agreement on jobs in the U.S.; Description of the trade relationship between the U.S. and Mexico; What year NAFTA was implemented.

Examines the determinants of the voting behavior of the United States (US) Senate on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Description of the main issues surrounding the NAFTA and GATT votes; Analytical framework and data; Constituent economic interests.

In this paper we investigate the effect of news about the advent of the U.S.- Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on the exchange rate between the Canadian dollar and the U.S. dollar. We find evidence that information flows related to the likelihood of the FTA influenced the volatility of the daily spot rate. In particular, information that increased the likelihood of the FTA subsequently diminished exchange rate volatility. In contrast, information that decreased the likelihood of the FTA subsequently increased exchange rate volatility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the different effects that trade policy have on distinctive regions within a country by modeling the subnational impact of the Free Trade Agreement between the U.S. and Canada using an applied general equilibrium model. This study incorporates interregional labor mobility into the model and, by comparing the new results to those measured in the absence of labor migration, shows the importance of allowing for interregional labor mobility when modeling at the subnational level the effects of nationality of internationally designed policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). An analysis of the aggregate impact of NAFTA on the North American region is given, with a detailed examination provided of NAFTA's impact on the three member countries which include the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. A description of the regional and global trends that are impacting NAFTA's relevance and effectiveness is provided. Other topics include the political debates that occur in North America about NAFTA and NAFTA's symbolic staying power in public discourse.

We analyze the impact of continuing the existing U.S. sugar program, replacing it with a standard program, and implementing the standard program with multilateral trade liberalization. Under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), duty-free sugar imports from Mexico could undermine the program's ability to operate on a “no-cost” basis to taxpayers as large public stocks of sugar could accumulate. The replacement of the current sugar program by one similar to other major U.S. crop programs would solve the problem of potential stock accumulation, accommodate further trade liberalization under a new WTO and future bilateral trade agreements, but would induce significant fiscal outlays through direct payments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a detailed examination of changes in indicators of intra-industry specialization in manufactured goods in trade between the United States and Mexico over the first five years of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The analysis is conducted at the three-digit SITC level of industry aggregation. Many industries experienced large increases in intraindustry trade (IIT). Only nine industries experience declines in IIT. Changes in various indicators of intra-industry specialization suggest few U.S. industries are candidates for significant adjustment problems. Industries facing potential adjustment pressures account for less than one-fourth of total U.S. imports from Mexico. These findings should lessen opposition to greater regional economic integration in the Western Hemisphere by easing fears that entire industries and jobs will disappear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By estimating long-run relationships in bilateral import functions, the effects of the Canada–US Free Trade Agreement is analysed. We also incorporate the gradual switching model into the import function to capture the phased tariff reductions. The result shows that the free trade agreement made both countries sensitive to domestic and foreign prices and insensitive to the domestic income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study conducts an examination of the North American Free Trade Agreement's (NAFTA) impact on California's export levels to Mexico and Canada while holding constant other variables that explain a state's exports to other nations, such as exchange rates and relative income growth. Transformed weighted least squares equations over a sample period between 1988 and 1997 are used to show that California's exports to Canada were not significantly affected by NAFTA, while exports to Mexico increased, on average, a statistically significant 16.11 percent between 1994 and 1997. The model also suggests that NAFTA's impact on California's exports to Mexico has increased over time from a 10.0 percent increase in 1994 to a 21.8 percent increase by 1997. (JEL F13, F14) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using confidential firm-level panel data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, we examine how the bilateral trade flows of U.S. multinational corporations (MNCs) and their Canadian affiliates responded to U.S.-Canadian tariff reductions from 1983 to 1992. We find that Canadian affiliate sales to the United States are negatively correlated with Canadian tariffs, but U.S. parent sales to Canadian affiliates have little association with Canadian tariffs. These results contradict the notion that Canadian tariff reductions would lead to a "hollowing out" of Canadian manufacturing. We also find substantial heterogeneity in MNC responses to tariff changes within narrowly defined manufacturing industries. Overall, bilateral trade liberalization is trade-creating, as U.S. MNCs integrated their North American production such that Canadian affiliates increased sales to the United States and reduced domestic sales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Provides a preliminary assessment of the effects of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on the trade flows. Views of the economists on the issue; Estimation of NAFTA effects based on simulation models; Difficulties of the passage of the NAFTA agreement in the United States Congress; Strengthening of trade ties between NAFTA partners.

SILVERS A. L. (2000) Limited linkage, demand shifts and the transboundary transmission of regional growth, Reg. Studies 34, 239–251. The Maquiladora Program and NAFTA were expected to open previously protected markets to transboundary investment and trade, thereby transmitting development across the US–Mexico border. But the effectiveness of neo-liberal policies depends upon the magnitude of intersectoral linkages that connect the economies on both sides of the border, and upon market disruptions such as exchange rate shifts. The economic linkages between the adjacent states of Arizona in the US and Sonora in Mexico, and their sensitivity to exchange rate changes, are estimated and used to analyse the effects of these policies and of the peso devaluation on the incomes of both regions. The growth of the maquiladora sector during the first year of NAFTA, together with multiplier impacts, yielded greater income growth for Arizona than for Sonora. The pattern of exchange rate elasticities served to dampen the impact of the peso crash by reducing Sonoran demand propensities for Arizona goods and increasing the maquiladora employment of Sonoran labour, although at lower real wages. SILVERS A. L. (2000) Maillons limités, déplacements de la demande, et transmission transfrontalière de la croissance régionale, Reg. Studies 34, 239–251. A partir du programme maquiladora (usine de montage) et de l'Association nordaméricaine de libre échange, on s'attendait à l'ouverture des marchés, jusqu'ici protégés, à l'investissement et aux échanges transfrontaliers, transmettant ainsi le développement au-delà de la frontière entre les Etats-Unis et le Mexique. Cependant, l'efficacité des politiques néo-libérales dépend de l'importance des maillons intersectoriels qui relient les économies des deux côtés de la frontière, et des perturbations dans les marchés tels les glissements des taux de change. Les maillons économiques qui relient deux états limitrophes, tels Arizona aux Etats-Unis et Sonora au Mexique, et leur sensibilité aux variations des taux de change, se voient estimer et employer afin d'analyser l'impact de ces politiques et de la dévaluation du peso sur les revenus des deux régions. Conjointement avec les effets multiplicateurs, la croissance du secteur maquiladora a rapporté une croissance du revenu plus soutenue pour Arizona que pour Sonora pendant la première année depuis l'établissement de l'Association nord-américaine de libre échange. La structure des élasticités des taux de change a servi à atténuer l'impact du krach du peso en réduisant les propensions de Sonora à demander des biens en provenance d'Arizona et en augmentant l'emploi dans le secteur maquiladora à Sonora, quoique les salaires réels soient moins élevés. SILVERS A. L. (2000) Begrenzte Verknüpfung, Verschiebungen in Nachfrage und die grenzüberschreitende Übertragung regionalen Wachstums, Reg. Studies 34, 239–251. Man hatte erwartet, das maquiladora Programm und NAFTA würden grenzüberschreitende Investierungen und Handel zuvor geschützter Märkte erschließen, und dadurch Entwicklung über die mexikanisch-amerikanische Grenze tragen, doch die Wirksamkeit der neo-liberalen Bestrebungen hängt vom Umfang intersektoraler Verknüpfungen ab, welche die Wirtschaften beiderseits der Grenze verbinden, und vom Störungen am Markt, wie z.B. Verschiebungen im Wechselkurs. Die wirtschaftlichen Verknüpfungen zwischen den Nachbarstaaten Arizonas in den USA und Sonora in Mexiko sowie ihre empfindliche Reaktion auf Veränderungen im Wechselkurs werden geschätzt und dazu benutzt, die Auswirkungen dieser Bestrebungen und der Entwertung des Peso auf die Einkommen beider Regionen zu analysieren. Das Wachstum des maquiladora Sektors während des ersten NAFTA Jahres, gekoppelt mit den Auswirkungen der Multiplikatoren ergab in Arizona einen höheren Einkommenszuwachs als in Sonora. Das Muster der Elastizität der Wechselkursraten diente dazu, die Auswirkung der Entwertung des Peso zu dämpfen, indem die Nachfrage aus Sonora nach Waren aus Arizona herabsetzte, und trotz niedrigeren Reallöhnen die maqiladora Erwerbstätigkeit der Arbeitskräfte Sonoras anzuheben. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the efforts of organized labor in the United States to contest the major trends of economic globalization of trade, production and finance in the 1990s. Adverse consequences of the globalization of trade; Details on the fight over the North American Free Trade Agreement and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade; Contributions of labor campaigns in laying the groundwork of the 1986 elections.

Assesses political provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in relation to trade remedies of Canada and the United States. Impact on market access of Canada and the US; Problems detrimental to trade interests of Canada; Factors undermining credibility of NAFTA provisions in trade remedy matters.

Offers a critical review of labor's fight against the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Overview of American workers' changing relation to free trade in the postwar era; Tone and content of the anti-NAFTA campaign; Failure of the anti-NAFTA campaign to construct a usable transnational political space for the future of organized labor.

Discusses the responses of the United States on the issue of illegal migration in Mexico. Permanent and temporary immigrants; Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), 1986; Legislation and control programs; North American Free Trade Agreement; Cooperative economic development.

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is part of a 50-year process of trade liberalization in the United States. From the end of the Civil War through World War II, however average tariff rates were high by historical standards. The article explores the impact of "free trade" on regional economic performance--specifically, the pace of economic convergence between the American South and the rest of the United States. Econometric analysis suggests that trade liberalization speeded up convergence. Based on the authors' results, it is predicted that, on average, the South will benefit from NAFTA, although there may be some adverse distributional consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stresses the need for the establishment of free trade in North America in September 1980. Economic relationship of the U.S. with Canada and Mexico; Incident that occurred in August 1971 which put a strain on the trade relations between the three countries; Major argument in favor of free trade.

Assesses the impact of the Canada United States Free Trade Agreement (CUSTA) on exports and foreign direct investment of processed foods. Overview of the effects of CUSTA; Specific effects of CUSTA on the United States exports as well as sales of the United States food processing affiliates operating in Canada; Types of agricultural products and the behavior of Canadian food processing affiliates operating in the United States.

Focuses on United States policies and politics and the US- Mexican economic relationship. Evolution of the Mexican-US relationship; Nature of US and Mexican policies; Tracing of arguments for and against the North American Free Trade Agreement: Extent to which ambitions have been realized.