Ten years after the North American Free Trade Agreement came into force, where do the U.S., Canada and Mexico stand? Have the hopes (and fears) engendered by NAFTA come to pass? What have been the agreement’s unanticipated consequences? And what, if anything, should the three nations do to deepen their partnership?
These were some of the questions raised at a May conference on U.S-Canada relations at the Americas Society in New York City. USCIB President Thomas Niles, a former U.S. envoy to Canada, was among the panelists, and argued forcefully that the U.S., Canada and Mexico must think seriously about deepening the North American relationship, including measures to raise living standards south of the border.
“While the bilateral relationship between U.S. and Canada is crucially important, I believe we should focus, as we look ahead, on the trilateral relationship within NAFTA,” said Mr. Niles. “Why? Because NAFTA has succeeded to such an extent in integrating the three economies. One figure says it all: in 1982, 31 percent of U.S., Canadian and Mexican foreign trade was within the NAFTA area; by 2001, it was 56 percent.”
But while important, trade alone cannot solve the problems posed by disparities in income levels (about 6 to 1) between Mexico and its northern neighbors, stated Mr. Niles, and it is in everyone’s interests to close that gap.
“What is needed is the creation of something akin to the European Union’s structural funds, with perhaps $11 billion annually (perhaps $10 billion from the U.S. and $1 billion from Canada) going into the modernization of Mexico’s infrastructure and educational systems,” he said. “Mexico would need to make the largest contribution to the fund, which would require, among other things, a major reform of its tax system. The Inter-American Development Bank would be a more than adequate institution to implement such a plan.”
Other conference speakers included former Canadian Deputy Prime Minister John Manley, Pamela Wallin, Canada’s consul general in New York, and Rick MacArthur, publisher of Harper’s Magazine. You can read the full text of Mr. Niles’s remarks at: Click Here.
| Cuba Sanctions Reform Measure – USCIB is among several business groups that have endorsed the Cuban Sanctions Reform Act of 2004, which would require annual Congressional renewal of existing travel and trade sanctions on Cuba. The bipartisan measure would not end the restrictions on travel and trade with Cuba, nor would it limit the President’s authority to impose new sanctions. Rather, sanctions would expire one year after the bill’s enactment, unless Congress approves, and the President signs, a joint resolution to continue them. "Unilateral economic sanctions as a general rule are bad policy," said Thomas Niles, president of USCIB. "In the case of Cuba, they have turned a problem between the free world and Fidel Castro into a sore point between the U.S. and our allies. It's time to deal squarely with this matter, and this legislation is one valuable way to do so.” |