북미자유무역협정의 정치경제학 - 그 성격과 성과를 중심으로

Abstract

This study examines the historical background of the NAFTA of 1994, negotiation targets and strategies of each country involved, its impact on the world economy as a whole, and its successes and failures over the past three years. While the three North American countries succeeded in establishing a free trade area based on reciprocity in the context of deepening economic competition in the world economy, the objectives of each country in this process slightly differ each other: The United States places more emphasis on a political objective-the stabilization of Mexico; Mexico is more interested in obtaining financial resources for remolding the existing economic development model; and Canada tried to avoid the possible economic disadvatages due to the boycott. After the three year economic experiment, the effect of trade creation within the trade area and intra-industry trade have been enhanced, whereas the trade disputes among the members still remain high. But the possibility of developing the NAFTA into the AFTA seems to be modest at the moment.