NAFTA's Sixth Round of Renegotiations

This week marked the beginning of the sixth round of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) renegotiation talks.

Why it’s important: As Senior Research Fellow Daniel Griswold has pointed out, the passage of NAFTA was followed by a significant increase in two-way trade between participating nations, and “real automotive manufacturing output, including parts and final assembly, has more than doubled since NAFTA went into effect.”   

How NAFTA can be improved: Despite its success, there is room for improvement. Griswold recommends that NAFTA negotiators preserve the agreement, but move to:

• Protect data transfers
• Bar the forced localization of servers
• Add protections to reduce abuses of antidumping duties
• Liberalize services trade, including shipping

Watch: Senior Research Fellow Christine McDaniel spoke with CBC News about the potential effects of trade policy on retail jobs and tax revenue.

Learn more: Senior Affiliated Scholar Robert Krol’s research takes a deeper look at policy uncertainty and its effects on trade and the economy. He wrote earlier this week that trade agreements like NAFTA have made America better off.