As the prime force behind trade throughout the Western Hemisphere, the United States is emerging with two trade projects--the newly-signed North American Free Trade Agreement and the projected, New American Community. This volume provides a clear, concise guide to all aspects of the 5-volume NAFTA...

As the prime force behind trade throughout the Western Hemisphere, the United States is emerging with two trade projects--the newly-signed North American Free Trade Agreement and the projected, New American Community. This volume provides a clear, concise guide to all aspects of the 5-volume NAFTA accord, its side agreements, and the unfolding New American Community. It covers specific issues, rationalizations, ideologies, controversies, and recommended actions. With special emphasis on the North American Free Trade Agreement, the volume will provide a major resource for both academics and decision makers in industry and government.

A clear, well-written, and comprehensive statement of a number of salient issues involving North American free trade-- summarized and referenced to more detailed source material for the interested reader.--Clark W. Reynolds, Stanford UniversityA first-rate piece of work . . . Its great value is that...

A clear, well-written, and comprehensive statement of a number of salient issues involving North American free trade-- summarized and referenced to more detailed source material for the interested reader.--Clark W. Reynolds, Stanford UniversityA first-rate piece of work . . . Its great value is that it will be used for some time as a reference document by experts who will want to delve more deeply into the specifics of the many technical issues covered.--Sidney Weintraub, University of Texas, AustinNegotiations toward a North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA) began in June 1991. This book assesses both the substances and the form of a prospective NAFTA. Part One examines the objectives of the United States, Mexico, and Canada in the NAFTA negotiations; the potential shape and contents of the agreement (including dispute-settlement and institutional issues); its possible extension to third countries; and its implications for multilateral trade negotiations and the GATT.Part Two examines the broad economic implications of a NAFTA for trade, investment, and employment; labor and environmental concerns that arise because of Mexico's lower level of economic development; and the cross-sectional issues of rules of origin and intellectual property.Part Three analyzes how the energy, auto, steel, textile, agricultural, and financial services sectors of the Mexican economy could be affected by a NAFTA, and the implications for U.S. and Canadian industries. Part Four summarizes the major conclusions and policy recommendations.

After more than two years of negotiations, in December 1992, the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States signed the North American Free Trade Agreement. During the months leading up to the signing, labor, industry, environment, and religious groups from the three countries actively...

After more than two years of negotiations, in December 1992, the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States signed the North American Free Trade Agreement. During the months leading up to the signing, labor, industry, environment, and religious groups from the three countries actively debated and lobbied their respective trade negotiators to gain support for their particular concerns. Lobbying by these groups continues as policy deliberations shift from treaty negotiations to the submission of enabling legislation and, ultimately in the United States, congressional authorization. This volume brings together key spokespeople from labor, industry, and government, and presents the main arguments for and against the Free Trade Agreement as well as views on the Agreement's impact.

This volume provides a comprehensive analysis of the economic, social, cultural and political dimensions of the evolving trilateral relationship among the three countries of North America. Contributors address such topics as energy, the environment, trade, labour, the maquiladora industrial sector...

This volume provides a comprehensive analysis of the economic, social, cultural and political dimensions of the evolving trilateral relationship among the three countries of North America. Contributors address such topics as energy, the environment, trade, labour, the maquiladora industrial sector of Mexico, the Mexican auto industry, and Canada-US cultural relations. While other publications have focused on US issues, this one emphasises Canada and Mexico, yet adds significantly to our understanding of the place of the United States in this evolving trilateral relationship.

This study provides a timely and useful benchmark for analysis of the effects of the recently negotiated North American Free Trade Agreement on investment flows. It also presents a unified history of foreign investment in Canada, Mexico, and the United States over the twentieth century, stressing...

This study provides a timely and useful benchmark for analysis of the effects of the recently negotiated North American Free Trade Agreement on investment flows. It also presents a unified history of foreign investment in Canada, Mexico, and the United States over the twentieth century, stressing interactions among these countries and their changing policies towards inward and outward investment. Twomey analyzes economic theories of foreign investment from the perspectives of neoclassical economics and political science and places them in the context of the ongoing debate over neo-protectionist policies and the role of the United States in the global economy.

In this timely volume, the ongoing, dramatic economic and geopolitical changes in NAFTA and the European Union are examined. Gianaris pays particular attention to the potential for stronger economic cooperation between North America and Western Europe. This unique book deals with similarities in...

In this timely volume, the ongoing, dramatic economic and geopolitical changes in NAFTA and the European Union are examined. Gianaris pays particular attention to the potential for stronger economic cooperation between North America and Western Europe. This unique book deals with similarities in economic organizations and related fiscal and monetary policies as they affect trade and financial transactions between these regions, and provides a detailed examination of trade and investment relations, capital flows, and currency realignments as well as transatlantic joint ventures. In addition, it deals with problems of privatization, employee participation, closer integration, and the challenge of enlarging NAFTA to include other Latin American countries and the European Union to include Eastern Europe.

"David Bacon reminds Americans of something we often forget: that NAFTA is meant to be a multilateral agreement, and that it was supposed to bring huge benefits to Mexico. Did it? Bravo to David Bacon for his tough-minded, unsparing portrait of working life at globalization's ground zero."--Ray...

"David Bacon reminds Americans of something we often forget: that NAFTA is meant to be a multilateral agreement, and that it was supposed to bring huge benefits to Mexico. Did it? Bravo to David Bacon for his tough-minded, unsparing portrait of working life at globalization's ground zero."--Ray Suarez, senior correspondent, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, and author of "The Old Neighborhood: What We Lost in the Great Suburban Migration

"David Bacon brings to life the heroes and villains on the front lines of the battle for human dignity under NAFTA--the world's most extreme experiment in free market fundamentalism."--Sarah Anderson, Director, Global Economy Project, Institute for Policy Studies

"Built from vivid, firsthand accounts, this is an extraordinary mural portrait of a border that few North Americans know anything about: of a working class fighting for survival on the unequal playing ground of NAFTA, where labor rights are almost always dishonored and where activists often end up blacklisted, jailed, or even desparecido. Bacon wonderfully coveys the passion, urgency and historical importance of the daily struggles to humanize the cold ultra-capitalist world of NAFTA."--Mike Davis, author of "City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles

"David Bacon has put a human face on the devastating impact of NAFTA on workers here and abroad. Our economic future as a nation depends on the knowledge contained in this book. A must read! !Si Se Puede!"--Dolores Huerta, Co-founder, United Farm Workers Union, President, Dolores Huerta Foundation

"David Bacon represents the fine old tradition of American working-class journalism at its best. He's gone everywhere--from tiny Mexicanvillages to the baking hot fields of California agribusiness--to get the real lowdown on NAFTA's effects on the blue collar people who hardly ever get a hearing in the mainstream press."--Barbara Ehrenreich, author of "Nickel

The only comprehensive historical analysis of the globalization of the U.S. apparel industry, this book focuses on the reemergence of sweatshops in the United States and the growth of new ones abroad. Ellen Israel Rosen, who has spent more than a decade investigating the problems of America's...

The only comprehensive historical analysis of the globalization of the U.S. apparel industry, this book focuses on the reemergence of sweatshops in the United States and the growth of new ones abroad. Ellen Israel Rosen, who has spent more than a decade investigating the problems of America's domestic apparel workers, now probes the shifts in trade policy and global economics that have spawned momentous changes in the international apparel and textile trade. "Making Sweatshops "asks whether the process of globalization can be promoted in ways that blend industrialization and economic development in both poor and rich countries with concerns for social and economic justice--especially for the women who toil in the industry's low-wage sites around the world.

Rosen looks closely at the role trade policy has played in globalization in this industry. She traces the history of current policies toward the textile and apparel trade to cold war politics and the reconstruction of the Pacific Rim economies after World War II. Her narrative takes us through the rise of protectionism and the subsequent dismantling of trade protection during the Reagan era to the passage of NAFTA and the continued push for trade accords through the WTO. Going beyond purely economic factors, this valuable study elaborates the full historical and political context in which the globalization of textiles and apparel has taken place. Rosen takes a critical look at the promises of prosperity, b