North American Free Trade Agreement

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North American Free Trade Agreement

North America 1992

Synopsis

After two years of negotiations, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed on 17 December 1992 by President Bush of the United States, President Salinas of Mexico, and Prime Minister Mulroney of Canada. NAFTA took effect on 1 January 1994. The act immediately lifted the majority of tariffs on goods exported among the three countries, with the remaining barriers to free trade of goods and services to be phased out over a period of 15 years. Additional provisions included in NAFTA cover environmental and labor concerns. The agreement also provides for future regional and multilateral cooperation to expand free-trade areas in the Americas.

Timeline

• 1973: Signing of peace accords in Paris in January ends the Vietnam War.
• 1978: U.S. Senate approves a measure presented by President Carter the year before, to turn the Panama Canal over to Panama by 2000.
• 1982: Argentina invades the Falkland Islands, a British possession, and Great Britain strikes back in a ten-week war from which Britain emerges victorious.
• 1986: In November, the scandal variously known as Iran Contra, Irangate, and Contragate breaks, when it is revealed that the Reagan administration agreed to sell arms to Iran in exchange for hostages, and to divert the funds from the arms sales to support the anti-Sandinista Contras in Nicaragua.
• 1991:

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