Nafta customs union. Features and main activities of nafta

NAFTA is the North American Free Trade Area, which is an agreement between countries such as America, Canada and Mexico. A single market zone was formed on the territory of these states. The agreement between the states was signed by its heads in 1994. In accordance with the terms of the agreement, the countries that are part of the association committed themselves to completely eliminating both customs and passport barriers in the next decade. Agreements were also reached to establish rules for the formation of fair competition and the creation necessary conditions for the free movement of services with capital.

Legal aspects

From a legal point of view, NAFTA is a modernized US-Canadian free trade agreement that was signed in 1988. If we consider the agreement between countries as a political phenomenon, then it appears in the format of America’s reaction to the procedure, including in education, that took place in 1992.

NAFTA supports a model orientation in the aspect The difference lies in the lack of desire for the formation of political supranational bodies. This is due to the developed differentiation of countries: America and Canada are highly developed regions, and Mexico is an actively developing area. NAFTA differs significantly from the EU in terms of the number of countries, but significantly exceeds it not only in terms of GDP, but also in terms of population. We can conclude that NAFTA is the world's largest economic association.

What prospects has cooperation opened up?

Thanks to cooperation, NAFTA member countries intensified trade and economic relations, while not only new development paths opened up, but a whole series of restrictions appeared. America partially transferred industrial production to Mexico and began importing a wide range of goods from this state at more than low prices in comparison with imports of similar goods from America.

At the same time, activity in the US labor market increased as capacity flowed to Mexico. The problem of deflation has intensified. The doors to the US and other markets have opened for Mexico developed countries, the volume of foreign investment has increased, including the volume of lending to the state economy.

As for economic dividends, they were one-sided for a developing country. Only the elite felt the enrichment. Canada fits most harmoniously into the structure of the association. It managed to avoid large-scale deindustrialization while increasing industrial exports. Canada's main role was to act as a mediator between America and the states Latin America.

What does NAFTA include?

An exclusive economic zone is essentially a set of agreements that extends not only to services and investment, but also covers the association. The provisions of the agreements regarding business activities in North America include:

• Access to investment markets.
• Guarantees.
• Services and intellectual property rights.
• State procurements.
• Measures to comply with standards.
• Entry for businessmen.
• Resolving conflict situations.

Obligations of participating countries

The exclusive economic zone imposed certain restrictions on the participating countries. Thus, America, Canada and Mexico are obliged to maintain their national customs tariffs in terms of trade with third countries.

The free circulation of goods was approved after a transition period of 10 years (sometimes 15 years) in the economic unification zone. The rule applies to products identified as originating in the United States, Mexico and Canada. The agreement provides for improving the terms of trade in services and establishing a mechanism for mutual investment.

The agreement contains provisions for the temporary restoration of protection for those who have suffered losses as a result of the import of certain categories of goods. NAFTA countries listed above must follow specific exceptions to general regime free economic relations.

Exceptions to the rules

Against the backdrop of the creation of the zone, there are moments that do not meet the standard of the agreement. Thus, within the framework of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Area), the following standards continue to apply:

• Mexico reserved the right to impose restrictions on foreign activities in the oil segment.
• Canada has the right to restrict access to certain segments of information that have some cultural significance. These include radio broadcasting and film production, book publishing and record production.
• The United States retained the right to support the optimal level of domestic prices and the right to save purchasing systems in the agricultural segment.

Specifics of eliminating duties

All products within the framework of cooperation are divided into three categories. This is an industrial group (excluding textile products), an agricultural group and a textile group including clothing. Each category of goods has its own individual tariff reduction schedule. It is worth mentioning the complete removal of duties on different groups products. In the future, the NAFTA unification sets much more significant goals. Within 5-15 years it is planned to completely abolish most of the duties.

Investment activities within the framework of the association, etc.

Within the framework of the NAFTA association, the participating countries of which were listed above, there are 5 dominant principles for the protection of foreign investors and their capital. This:

The agreement provides for legal liability for infringement of patents, trademarks and intellectual property. There is legislation that allows you to determine the area of ​​production of a product. Thus, the product is assigned to the state in whose territory it was subjected to the greatest processing (calculated as a percentage).

Goals of the association

NAFTA is a massive regional free trade area with a population of approximately 406 million people and a combined GDP of $10.3 trillion. The formation of the tandem was determined by a number of parameters and a list of goals that were planned to be achieved. The prerequisites for creating an association include the following:

It is quite clear for what reasons NAFTA was formed. The participating countries, when signing the agreement, in addition to the effectiveness of the partnership, also pursued a number of goals. This is the activation of trade by eliminating any restrictions, creating a healthy competitive environment, attracting investment, ensuring high level protection of intellectual property. The association continues to develop today, constantly expanding the scope of its influence.

Lecture 5 North American and Latin American economic regions

Time – 2 hours.

Lecture questions:

1. general characteristics North American group of NAFTA countries.

2. Characteristics of the economies of the leading countries of North America: USA, Canada, Mexico.

3. General characteristics of the South American groupings of the MERCOSUR and CARICOM countries.

4. Characteristics of the economies of the leading countries of Latin America: Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela.

Question 1 General characteristics of the North American group of NAFTA countries

North American Free Trade Agreement(NAFTA, English) North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA; fr. Accord de libre-échange nord-américain, ALENA; Spanish Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte (TLCAN) is a free trade agreement between Canada, the United States and Mexico, based on the model of the European Community (European Union). The NAFTA agreement was signed on December 17, 1992 and entered into force on January 1, 1994.

In light of what happened in the 1980s integration processes in Europe and Asia, the importance of the issue of creating NAFTA increased, as it became clear that the answer to the unification of Europe should be the unification of America and, as part of it, North America. However, from the very beginning, Mexico, Canada and the United States viewed the role and potential of NAFTA from different perspectives.

The agreement establishing the North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA) came into force on January 1, 1994, preserving and reaffirming the 1988 Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA).

If in the EU integration processes proceeded from the top down (from governments and government bodies), then in North America - from the bottom up, that is, from the desire for cooperation at the micro level (between American and Canadian corporations) to cooperation at the macro level.

Unlike the agreements underlying European integration processes, the NAFTA agreement does not cover issues related to social sphere, such as employment, education, culture, etc.

Goals. The main purpose of NAFTA is to remove barriers to trade and investment between the United States, Canada and Mexico. While the European Union is based on the concept of federal politics with the distribution of power between its bodies - the Council, the Commission, the Parliament and the Court of Justice, on the one hand, and the member states on the other, NAFTA builds integration on the basis of confederal ties between independent sovereign states. Trade interactions in each of these states are supported by autonomous decision-making bodies within the framework established by NAFTA. Goals of NAFTA:

Elimination of customs and passport barriers and stimulation of the movement of goods and services between the countries participating in the agreement;

Creating and maintaining conditions for fair competition in the free trade zone;

Attracting investments to the member countries of the agreement;

Ensuring proper and effective protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights;

Creation of effective mechanisms for the implementation and use of the Agreement, joint dispute resolution and management;

Creating a basis for future trilateral, regional and international cooperation in order to expand and improve the Agreement;

Creation of a single continental market.

Main characteristics of NAFTA

Like other regional integration blocs, NAFTA was organized with the aim of expanding economic ties (primarily mutual trade) between the participating countries. By prohibiting member states from discriminating against mutual supplies of goods and investments, NAFTA establishes protectionist rules against outside producers (particularly in the textile and automobile industries).

Economic integration in North America differs from integration in Western Europe and Asia, which are based on the concerted regulatory activities of many highly developed countries.

In other regions, integration was carried out from the top down, with intergovernmental agreements stimulating business contacts different countries. In NAFTA, on the contrary, the integration process proceeded “from the bottom up”: first, intercorporate ties reached a high level, and then, on their basis, interstate agreements were adopted.

Within NAFTA, unlike the EU and APEC, there is only one center economic power- The USA, whose economy is several times larger than Canada and Mexico combined. This monocentricity makes governance easier (the leading country can easily impose its decisions on weaker partners), but at the same time creates an environment of potential conflicts (US partners may be dissatisfied with their subordinate position). Moreover, integration appears to be one-sided: Canada and Mexico are closely integrated with the United States, but not with each other.

The North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA) is a free trade agreement between Canada, the United States and Mexico, based on the model of the European Community (European Union).

The first step was the Abbott Plan, adopted in 1947, which aimed to stimulate US investment in key sectors of the Canadian economy. In 1959, the United States and Canada entered into a joint defense production agreement that promoted American standards in Canadian military production.

The next step was the conclusion of an agreement in 1965 on the liberalization of trade in automotive products, which contributed to the integration of many other industries. The idea of ​​a trade and political unification of the United States, Canada and Mexico began to be implemented in the 1970s. At first there was talk of formalizing an energy union. A similar idea was supported in the 1980s by Presidents R. Reagan and G. Bush.

In September 1988, after difficult three years of negotiations, the US-Canada Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA) was signed, according to which a free trade area was to be formed between the US and Canada within ten years.

Due to the integration processes that took place in Europe and Asia in the 1980s, the issue of creating NAFTA became more acute, as it became clear that the answer to the unification of Europe should be the unification of America, and, as part of it, North America. However, from the very beginning, Mexico, Canada and the United States viewed the meaning and potential of NAFTA from different perspectives.

The agreement establishing the North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA) came into force on January 1, 1994, preserving and reaffirming the 1988 Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA).

Goals of NAFTA

NAFTA currently represents the world's largest regional free trade area, with a population of 406 million and a combined gross domestic product of $10.3 trillion. The North American Free Trade Agreement contains a set of agreements that extend beyond trade to services and investment, and for the first time brings together industrialized countries and a developing country. The creation of a free trade zone in the North American region was due to a number of factors:

• geographical proximity of the participating countries and elements of complementarity of the structures of national economies;
• close trade ties between them and expanding production cooperation;
• a growing network of controlled enterprises of American TNCs in Canada and Mexico and Canadian TNCs in the USA;
• strengthening the positions of the EU, Japan and newly industrialized countries in the world market.

The main goal of NAFTA was to remove barriers to trade in goods between participating countries. Half of the barrier restrictions were lifted immediately, the rest were removed gradually over 14 years. This agreement was an expansion of the 1989 trade agreement between Canada and the United States.

Unlike the European Union, NAFTA did not aim to create interstate administrative bodies, nor did it create laws that would govern such a system. NAFTA is only an international trade agreement within the framework of international law. To date, NAFTA's goals include:

• removing barriers and stimulating the movement of goods and services between the countries participating in the agreement;
• creating and maintaining conditions for fair competition in the free trade zone;
• attracting investments to member countries of the agreement;
• ensuring proper and effective protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in the Zone;
• creation of effective mechanisms for the implementation and use of the Agreement, joint dispute resolution and management;
• establishing a basis for future trilateral, regional and international cooperation in order to expand and improve the Agreement.

NAFTA structure

NAFTA has a clear organizational structure. The central institution of NAFTA is the Free Trade Commission, which includes representatives at the trade minister level from the three participating countries. The Commission oversees the implementation and further development of the Agreement and helps resolve disputes arising in the interpretation of the Agreement. She also oversees the work of more than 30 NAFTA committees and working groups. The last meetings of the Commission were held in Washington, USA in 1997 and in Mexico City in early 1998.

The ministers agreed that the Commission would be assisted in its work by the NAFTA Coordinating Secretariat (NCS), which was planned to be established at the end of 1997 in Mexico City. The Secretariat is intended to serve as the official archive of the work of NAFTA and serve as the working secretariat for the Commission.

NAFTA provides for further work to help achieve the creation of a free trade area. In accordance with the Agreement, in order to promote trade and investment. To ensure the effective implementation of NAFTA regulations and their administration, more than 30 working groups and committees were created. The main areas in which normative work is being undertaken include the origin of goods, customs, agricultural trade and subsidies to this area of ​​the economy, product standardization, government procurement and the movement of people across borders. These working groups and committees report annually to the NAFTA Commission.

NAFTA working groups and committees also help make NAFTA's implementation process smoother and provide a forum for exploring ways to further liberalize trade among participating countries. An example is Canada's consistent policy aimed at accelerating tariff reductions on certain types of goods. In addition, NAFTA working groups and committees provide an arena for discussing controversial issues, free from politics, and using discussion of issues on early stage their development help to avoid dispute resolution procedures.

Currently, most trade conducted in North America occurs under the clear, distinct, and well-established rules of NAFTA and the World Trade Organization (WTO). However, despite this, controversial issues invariably arise in the field of trade of this scale. When such situations arise, NAFTA advocates amicable resolution of the dispute by the affected states through NAFTA committees and working groups or other advisory bodies. If a mutually acceptable solution is not found, NAFTA provides for a prompt and effective consideration of the problem by a group of experts.

The administration of NAFTA's dispute resolution provisions is the responsibility of the Canadian, American and Mexican national sections of the NAFTA Secretariat. In the first nine months of FY 1996-97, the Secretariat ordered 14 Chapter 19 panel reviews and one Chapter 20 arbitration. In 1996, eight Chapter 19 panel decisions and one Chapter 20 panel report were issued.

Chapter Twenty of the North American Free Trade Agreement establishes an institutional mechanism and dispute resolution procedure. By the end of 1996, 11 consultations had been requested under this chapter in 10 cases, one of which had been referred to arbitration. Chapter fourteen further sets out special procedures for resolving any disputes relating to financial services.

Based on the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA), NAFTA includes (in Chapter 19) a unique system of review by experts representing two countries of national decisions on antidumping and countervailing duty issues, thereby replacing legal review by each of the three countries . Since the adoption of NAFTA, there have already been 73 requests for consideration of the issue by a group of experts, in accordance with Chapter 19 of the Agreement.

With regard to the resolution of investment-related issues, NAFTA uses "mixed" arbitration procedures between the injured investor and the government concerned, based on the general procedures established by the Canadian Foreign Investment Protection Agreements and the World Banking Center for Investment Disputes Resolution . NAFTA also requires national agencies to respect the principles of fairness and transparency.

National sections of NAFTA are also responsible for resolving disputes under other free trade agreements concluded by these countries outside NAFTA. Thus, back in 1997, the Canadian section of the NAFTA Secretariat was given responsibility for administering the dispute resolution process under Chapter 8 of the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement, and the same responsibility under the Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement.

Economic characteristics of NAFTA

The scale of the economic relationship between the United States, Canada and Mexico based on mutual trade and capital flows can be judged from the following data. About 75-80% of Canadian exports (20% of Canada's GDP) are sold in the United States. The US share in foreign direct investment in Canada is over 75% and Canada in the US is 9%. About 70% of Mexican exports go to the United States, and 65% of Mexican imports come from there. The US share of total foreign direct investment inflows into Mexico exceeds 60%. The US GDP is 14.5 times that of Canada and 19 times that of Mexico.

By population size, by volume of total gross product and a number of basic economic indicators North American integration grouping is comparable to European Union. NAFTA has powerful (especially thanks to the United States) economic potential, for example, the annual production of goods and services by the United States, Canada and Mexico is equal to $5 trillion, and their share of world trade is almost 20%. The structure of the North American integration complex has its own characteristics compared to the European integration model.

The main difference is the asymmetrical economic dependence of the United States, Canada and Mexico. The interaction between the economic structures of Mexico and Canada is far inferior in depth and scale to Canadian-American and Mexican-American integration. Canada and Mexico are more likely to be competitors in the American market for goods and labor, rivals in attracting capital and technology from American corporations, than partners in the integration process.

Another feature of the North American economic grouping is that its participants are in different starting conditions. While Canada has managed to move closer to the United States in terms of the main economic macro indicators (GDP per capita, labor productivity) over the past decade, Mexico, long years which was in the position of an economically backward state with a large external debt, is still noticeably behind these countries in terms of basic basic indicators.

The difference in GDP per capita between Mexico and the United States reaches 6.6 times, and with Canada – 4.1 times. Such a significant gap in the levels of economic development of the member countries makes it difficult to create a unified economic complex.

It is also worth noting that within NAFTA, unlike the EU and APEC, there is only one center of economic power - the United States, whose economy is several times larger than Canada and Mexico combined. This monocentricity makes governance easier (the leading country can easily impose its decisions on weaker partners), but at the same time creates an environment of potential conflicts (US partners may be dissatisfied with their subordinate position). Moreover, integration appears to be one-sided: Canada and Mexico are closely integrated with the United States, but not with each other.

However, the United States received significant benefits as a result of this agreement:

• in the vast majority of industries, barriers against foreign manufacturers from NAFTA partner countries were gradually minimized, which made it possible to purchase many goods from them cheaper than in the United States itself;
• American companies had much greater opportunities to access the markets of neighboring countries, which expanded the sales market.

US participation in the regional integration process has become a powerful factor in the long-term positive impact on domestic economic development.

The total trade turnover with Mexico in 1993–1997 alone increased almost 2.5 times (from 80.5 billion to 197 billion), with Canada - almost 2 times (from 197 to 364 billion). Both of these countries account for a third of US foreign trade. In the early 2000s, the average annual increase in trade turnover with Mexico was more than 20%, with Canada - 10%. Duty-free status has now extended to two-thirds of all US exports to the region, and these opportunities continue to expand. The United States needs such regional economic integration to improve its competitiveness vis-à-vis its major economic rivals, the EU and Japan.

Characteristics of NAFTA countries (as of 2014)

Source - CIA World Factbook

At the same time, various environmental and labor groups in the United States, as well as many members of the US Congress, fear the movement of American business activity to Mexico, with its low labor and environmental standards. In addition, Americans are afraid of the increasing flow of immigrants from Mexico since the 1990s, which in the 2000s already reached 300 thousand people a year. Such “Latin Americanization” of the United States seems to many Americans to be a threat to their civilization, based on the values ​​of Protestant European culture.

On Mexico's role in NAFTA

For Mexico, membership in NAFTA means guaranteed access to the American market, which absorbs approx. 80% of all Mexican exports, increased influx of foreign investment. The desire for economic integration with the United States became the impetus for the neoliberal reforms undertaken by the Mexican government in the early 1980s, abandoning the import-substitution development strategy.

Through regional association With the USA, Mexico began to gradually integrate into the global economy. Of particular importance to her was also the positive resolution of the issue of external debt after significant financial losses incurred in the 1980s: the Mexican government obtained large loans from the United States to implement free trade agreements. Many foreign companies began to move their activities to Mexico in order to penetrate the American and Canadian markets. Foreign direct investment in Mexico doubled between 1993 and 1999 alone.

Critics of Mexico's NAFTA membership point out that its benefits accrue almost exclusively to the elite, not to workers. The attractiveness of Mexico for foreign entrepreneurs is largely due to low level life (low wages) and low environmental standards. Therefore, the United States does not show much interest in improving the living standards of Mexicans.

Participation in NAFTA has turned Mexico into a program of trade liberalization and economic restructuring that makes future withdrawal difficult and a return to economic self-sufficiency virtually impossible.

About Canada's role in NAFTA

Canada is an objectively stronger NAFTA member than Mexico, but weaker than the United States. Therefore, Canada is inclined to block with Mexico when defending its interests in order to put pressure on Washington. In the early 1990s, Canada relied on Mexico's support to counter US protectionist actions. In turn, Mexico received Canadian support in 1995 when it turned to the IMF and World Bank when there was a need for urgent intervention to save the Mexican peso.

Canada actively advocates expanding the free trade zone, considering Chile, as well as Colombia and Argentina, as the top candidates for joining the bloc. Demonstrating their independence and determination, the Canadians said they would not wait for the Americans, and in 1996 they entered into a bilateral free trade agreement with Chile modeled on NAFTA, as well as two additional ones on regulation labor relations and about protection environment– modeled on the corresponding tripartite agreements of 1993 between Canada, the United States and Mexico. Canada has entered into various bilateral agreements on specific issues with many Latin American countries. economic cooperation, persistently promotes the idea of ​​integrating NAFTA with Mercosur. Canada has been very actively involved in the implementation of the plan to create the FTAA. In 1998, she began to chair the negotiations to conclude this agreement, which was declared a priority of Canadian policy in the region.

Thus, in just one decade, Canada has transformed from a rather passive observer to a full and active participant in multilateral processes and activities of the countries of the region. At the same time, Canadians act in their traditional role of mediator between countries with different levels of economic development and different ideological orientations.

Participation in CAFTA and NAFTA gave a strong boost to the Canadian economy: between 1989 and 2000 alone, the volume of Canadian exports more than doubled, the share of machinery and equipment in it increased from 28% in 1980 to 45% in 1999. This refutes the fears of those opponents of the free trade agreement. on the North American continent, who believed that it would lead to the “deindustrialization” of the Canadian economy.

In 2000, exports to the United States accounted for approximately 33% of Canada's total GDP, compared to 15% in 1989. The connection to the American market became especially strong in the two largest provinces of Canada in terms of population and economic potential - Ontario (the share of exports to the United States is 40% gross product) and in Quebec (24%).

NAPHTHA- a comprehensive regional agreement uniting three countries located on different levels economic, social and political development; regulates their relations in various aspects - trade in goods and services, investment cooperation, protection of intellectual property, ecology. The agreement was signed in 1994 with the goal of smoothly reducing trade barriers in various sectors of the US economy. Canada and Mexico to ensure and facilitate access of goods and services to the markets of the participating countries and formally meant a single continental free trade system. NAFTA is a free trade zone, all conditions of which apply only to NAFTA members, and in relation to third countries, each state develops an independent foreign economic policy.

North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA)

TO beginning of XXI V. All continents of the earth have their own integration blocs. Let's look at some of them.

North America is embraced by integration within NAPHTHA— North American Free Trade Area. The Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. The phenomenon of the alliance is the association of two developed countries with a relatively backward country. During the period of signing the agreement (1992), the average annual average in the USA was 23.2 thousand dollars, in Canada - 20.7 thousand dollars, in Mexico - 3.5 thousand dollars (or 6.6 times lower than in the USA).

The initiator and leader of the association is the United States, which combined its financial and innovative power with the rich natural and cheap labor resources of Mexico and fundamentally expanded the markets for American competitive products. American ones permeate everything North America. Not last role played by the geopolitical ambitions of the United States, which views Mexico as a gateway to Latin America - the start of the creation of a pan-American free trade area covering the entire American continent (FTAA).

Mexico's benefit is that the flow of capital flowing from the United States, especially direct investment, made it possible to restructure the economy and gave impetus to the development of infrastructure (roads, bridges, telecommunications, etc.). The share of American TNCs in the total amount of foreign investment was approximately 2/3. In northern Mexico, the main economic units were “maquiladoras” - assembly plants of American multinational corporations. This allowed Mexico to sharply increase export volumes finished products in USA. US share in Mexican foreign trade increased to 90%. Every year, up to 500 thousand Mexican braceros enter the United States. Their financial transfers to their homeland reach $10 billion a year, which is comparable to Mexico's income from oil exports.

However, there were also losses: the ruin of small producers, a sharp drop in the exchange rate of the peso, and increasing dependence on the conditions of the American market. The currency crisis was overcome with an emergency loan issued under US pressure.

The Canada-US free trade area was created back in 1988. The creation of NAFTA increased trade turnover between Canada and Mexico, but the asymmetry of their relations and the dominant position of the United States still remain.

NAFTA has not created supranational governance structures like . The institutional structure of NAFTA includes a number of commissions and committees, the main of which is the Free Trade Commission at the level of the trade ministers of the three countries.

• eliminating barriers to trade in goods and services;
• creation of a system for the protection of intellectual property rights;
• liberalization of investment flows (non-discriminatory regime);
• formation of a mechanism for resolving disputes between member countries.

The reduction of tariffs occurs in stages, with the preservation of protectionist measures for “particularly sensitive goods” in each country. There are still exceptions to free trade rules, especially for agricultural products. So, Mexico protects against imports domestic production beans, USA - vegetables and fruits, Canada - dairy products. Exemptions in the service sector include transportation (air, sea, land), radio broadcasting, healthcare, legal services and some others.

It is important that NAFTA establishes general rules determining the country of origin of the goods. This is a country where the product has undergone significant processing, and the share of local components is not lower than 50%.

The agreement does not provide for the creation of a customs union, although it includes elements that go beyond the Free Trade Area.

11.1. Background and history of the creation of NAFTA

The association is one of the world's largest regional free trade zones with a territory of 21.78 million km 2 and a population of more than 450 million people. and a total GDP of about 16.5 trillion US dollars in 2008 (at the time of formation, 390 million people and 8.04 trillion dollars, respectively).

The agreement on the creation of NAFTA is the result of more than half a century of movement of these countries, and especially the USA and Canada, towards trade, economic and political unification (Table 1). Throughout the 20th century. economic boundaries between USA and Canada through relative liberalization of the movement of goods, capital and labor. A qualitative change in economic relations between the United States and Canada occurred in 1988, when the American-Canadian Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was concluded at the interstate level, designed to provide Canadian goods with guaranteed and privileged access to the US domestic market.

Table 1. Stages of development of trade and economic relations in North America

Features and main activities of NAFTA

Key provisions of the NAFTA agreement (Table 2):

• Phase out all customs duties on goods traded between the United States, Canada, and Mexico by 2010.
• Easing the regime for North American capital in Mexico.
• Liberalization of the activities of American and Canadian banks on financial market in Mexico.
• Protection North American market from the expansion of Asian and European companies trying to avoid US tariffs by re-exporting their goods to the US through Mexico.
• Creation of the American-Canadian Arbitration Commission.

The agreement establishing NAFTA assumes that participating countries maintain national customs tariffs in trade with third countries. But in mutual trade after a transition period of 10 (in some cases - 15) years in this economic zone There must be free circulation of goods that qualify as originating in the USA, Canada and Mexico. Implementation of the agreement will lead to the elimination of all tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade. It is planned to improve trade in services, establish fair rules for mutual investments and public procurement, strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights, and create a mechanism for resolving disputes.

Table 2. Key provisions of the NAFTA agreement

At the same time, NAFTA establishes protectionist rules against off-continental producers in the textile and automobile industries.

While eliminating tariffs and other protectionist barriers, NAFTA has a number of limitations (exceptions):

• Installs restrictive trade regulations a number of goods and investments in some sectors of the economy, especially “sensitive” to foreign competition, and differences in duty reduction schedules. It refers to agriculture, energy, automotive products, textiles. In the Agreement, all goods are divided into three large groups— industrial (excluding textile goods), agricultural and textile products, including clothing. Duty reduction schedules have been developed for each group, and immediate removal of duties has been provided for and implemented for a number of industrial goods.
• Contains clauses to temporarily restore protection to industries harmed by imports of affected products.
• Contains exceptions to the free trade regime. Thus, the following remain: Mexico's right to prohibit foreign activities in the oil sector: Canada's right to protect certain culturally important sectors (radio broadcasting, production of films, records, books, etc.); the right of the United States to support domestic prices and maintain the procurement system for agricultural goods.

Differentiated conditions for trade liberalization are also provided for individual countries participating in the integration bloc. For example, Mexican tariffs on imports of American manufactured goods were eliminated within 10 years. Approximately half of the Mexican tariffs were eliminated when the Agreement entered into force. Subsequently (within five years), up to 70% of all goods from the United States were imported into Mexico duty-free. For its part, Mexico received easier access to most of the North American market; The removal of duties within five years covered almost 90% of industrial products.

At the same time, tariffs on a small number of products “sensitive” to American industry were not eliminated until almost the end of the 15-year period. Tariffs on trade between Mexico and Canada were also phased out over 10 years. In mutual trade between the United States and Canada, there was an agreement not to change the tariff reduction schedules previously developed within the framework of a bilateral agreement between them in 1989.

conclusions

NAFTA does not have permanent supranational bodies. As a rule, all decisions are made by the highest officials partner states. The main provisions of the Agreement boil down to the elimination of tariff barriers to trade in goods and services between the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The NAFTA agreement had a constructive impact on the economic relations of the participating countries. The treaty aims to liberalize relations between the United States and Mexico and between Canada and Mexico, as relations between the United States and Canada were liberalized within the framework of a bilateral free trade area created in 1988.

The Agreement's provisions in the field of investment cooperation establish a non-discriminatory regime for investors in participating countries when setting up enterprises (FDI), acquiring companies, expanding them and managing them. Investors have the right to repatriation of profits and capital, to receive fair compensation in the event of expropriation, and to settlement of disputes in government arbitration. This removal of barriers has led to a significant increase in investment within NAFTA.

The main sources of investment in NAFTA are. Their activities are concentrated mainly in knowledge-intensive industries (in the USA and Canada) and in manufacturing (in Mexico). As a result of the Agreement, the volume of mutual investments in the period 1994 to 2008 increased 6 times. Investment cooperation was carried out according to the USA - Canada, USA - Mexico scheme.

The sectoral structure of mutual investments in the USA, Canada and Mexico is different. Mutual FDI from the United States and Canada, like other developed countries, is mainly concentrated in the services sector - banking and finance, while in Mexico these countries invest predominantly in the manufacturing sector.

They have a positive impact on the economy of the host country only if there is a clear and competent government program for interaction with foreign investors. In the absence of such a program, FDI may negatively impact the country's future economic growth.

Integration under NAFTA greatly contributed to the development of trade, specialization of production and the introduction modern technologies in various sectors of the economy. Intrazonal trade grew at a faster rate than US, Canal, and Mexican trade with other countries. NAFTA also contributed to the process of integration in the services sector (financial sector, trade, transport, health care and communications) and in matters of intellectual property protection.

The asymmetry of NAFTA development includes the asymmetry of: the industrial potential of the participating countries, resulting from the fact that the United States accounts for about 85% of GDP and industrial production three countries; levels of development between highly developed countries (USA and Canada) and developing Mexico; intensity of bilateral economic relations (USA - Canada, US - Mexico); lack of mature economic relations between Canada and Mexico.

The United States considers Latin American countries to be one of the priority areas for the development of integration processes with the participation of NAFTA. NAFTA in the future could become the basis of a future Inter-American Free Trade Area (IFTA), the creation of which has been postponed for now. The Caribbean and Central American regions are now more integrated within NAFTA than with their grouping partners, not only along the lines of trade and finance, but also at a deeper level of industrial integration.