Читать реферат по английскому: "Free Trade Essay Research Paper Is free" Страница 2

(Назад) (Cкачать работу)

free-trade zone, bringing together 365 million consumers in Canada, Mexico, and the United

States in an open market (Infopedia, 2.0). The European Economic Area (which includes the

members of the European Union and the European Free Trade Association) is the largest free-

trade zone in the world, which also became effective in 1994.

NAFTA was built upon a 1989 trade agreement between the United States and Canada

that eliminated or reduced many tariffs between the two countries (Infopedia, 2.0). It called for

immediately eliminating duties on half of all U.S. goods shipped to Mexico and gradually phasing

out other tariffs over a period of about 14 years (Infopedia, 2.0). Restrictions are to be removed

from many categories, including motor vehicles and automotive parts, computers, textiles, and

agriculture. The treaty also protected patents, copyrights, and trademarks and outlined the

removal of restrictions on investments among the three countries. Mandates for minimum wages,

working conditions, and environmental protection were added later as a result of supplemental

agreements signed in 1993 (Infopedia, 2.0).

In December 1992 NAFTA was signed by the three leaders of the three countries

(Infopedia, 2.0). After a long debate, the legislatures in all three countries approved NAFTA in

1993 (Infopedia, 2.0). In the United States, the debate over NAFTA divided members of both the

Democratic and Republican parties and ignited fierce opposition from environmental and labor

groups. Many, in the U.S., feared that jobs would be lost because the agreement would facilitate

the movement of U.S. production plants to Mexico, where plants could take advantage of cheaper

labor and easygoing enforcement of environmental and workers rights laws (Infopedia, 2.0).

Environmental groups were concerned that pollution and food safety controls would be more

difficult to enforce. In response to these concerns, Canada, Mexico, and the United States signed

supplemental agreements in 1993 that addressed some of these issues (Infopedia, 2.0).

Talks began in the late 1994 to expand NAFTA to include all Latin American nations,

with the exception of Cuba, the

only country in the region with a

Communist government. These

talks include plans to create a free-

trade zone throughout the Americas in the 21st century, but including more countries in NAFTA is

expected to be difficult. Some countries are far from being able to agree to and implement the

stringent economic requirements of a free-trade accord. Formal negotiations to include Chile in

NAFTA began in 1995 without any further results so far (Infopedia, 2.0).

Free trade may have several reasons as for why such agreements are created but there are

also oppositions to them.. The Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) took effect against the

will of the majority of Canadians.

There exists a non-partisan grassroots organization, founded in 1985, called Citizens

Concerned About Free Trade (http://web.idirect.com/ ccaft/) . This organization was made to

provide information and mobilize those opposed to the Free Trade Agreements and loss of

Canadian sovereignty. The members of that organization, of all ages, political persuasions, and

ethnic backgrounds, want Canada to survive as a nation. Their goal is to have Canada exercise the

termination clauses of both the FTA and NAFTA and withdraw from these agreements so that

Canada can protect its resources, build a productive, prosperous, and humane Canadian society as

well as play an independent role in world affairs.

In the Free Trade Agreements Canada agreed to a couple of things. One of them is never

to screen any new American ownership coming into Canada (http://web.idirect.com/ ccaft/).

Even before the FTA Canada had the highest level of foreign ownership of any industrial country

in the world, more than $35 billion flows out of Canada in profits and in interests each year to

foreign owners, while over a million Canadians rely on food banks and the true unemployment

rate has reached 20%. (http://web.idirect.com/ ccaft/). Canadian controlled companies created

almost all new jobs in Canada during the last fifteen years of the FTA, while foreign owned

companies decreased their employment.

Foreign ownership lies at the very root of

Canada s economic problems. The last

thing Canada needs is more of it!

Another article of the CCAFT called To grant American corporations and investors the

same rights as Canadians is about the loss of Canadian jobs and industry, but rapid

Americanization of our country (http://web.idirect.com/ ccaft/). It is now impossible to require

U.S. companies operating in Canada to hire Canadians or purchase supplies locally, and no level

of government in Canada can give preferences to Canadian firms over American ones. Each

province can still favour its own companies over out-of-province Canadian companies, but not

over American ones, which now have greater rights in each provinces then out-of-province

Canadian companies.

Each year the U.S. consumes more oil than Canada s total known reserves and three years

of U.S. consumption exceeds Canada s known reserves of natural gas. The U.S. is now taking

over half of Canada s annual gas and oil production (http://web.idirect.com/ ccaft/). Since 1992,

the U.S. has increased its yearly take of our natural gas over 50%, while our reserves are

Похожие работы