NAFTA
CLASS DISCUSSION TOPIC – NAFTA
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is a trade
agreement between the United States, Canada, and Mexico whose purpose is to
eliminate tariffs between the countries and promote all aspects of
international trade.
There are many arguments for and against the treaty. One of
the arguments against centers on the fact that Mexican industries do not have
to meet the same environmental regulations as industries in the United States and
Canada. The U.S. and Canada have intervened in the marketplace and tried to
internalize some of the costs of pollution by placing regulations on the amount
of pollutants that industries can emit.
Opponents of NAFTA point out that pollution is largely a free
good in Mexico, and that being free to pollute gives industries in Mexico an
economic advantage over those in the U.S. and Canada. Is there anything in what
we have studied, particularly in Chapter 14, that can point us towards an
equitable solution to this problem while still protecting the environment we
all share? What is that solution?
