Canada’s Economy: NAFTA

N – A – F – T – A What do you think NAFTA stands for? If you don’t know, make something up.

Essential Question How does the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) affect the economy of Canada?

NAFTA NAFTA is an agreement between 3 countries: Canada The United States Mexico Every country in “North America”

What Does NAFTA Do? NAFTA was formed in 1993 with 2 purposes: To eliminate trade barriers among member countries (Free Trade) What are the 3 major trade barriers? To help solve environmental issues and limit pollution What are some of the environmental issues facing North America?

What Does this Sound Like? No Trade Barriers (Free Trade) Clean up the Environment

Sounds Good Right? The European Union and NAFTA have many things in common. Free Trade will help the economies of all 3 countries become strong. However, the EU works much better than NAFTA NAFTA has had problems ever since 1993 and many people think we should get rid of it.

What’s Wrong with NAFTA? Some say Americans are losing jobs People work cheaper in Mexico, so American businesses are having all their work done in Mexico Some companies threaten to move to Mexico Some argue that our borders should be open like the EU does in Europe. That makes some people angry because they feel the borders should be closed The environment continues to be polluted EX: Great Lakes in U.S. and Canada, Mexico City is the most polluted city in the world. The Agreement is not working like it was supposed to

What Should be Done? We are going to have a Debate. You will be in 2 groups. Think of a name Team 1. You are going to answer the question “What changes should be made to make NAFTA work like it’s supposed to?” Team 2. You are going to answer the question: “What changes should be made to make NAFTA work like it’s supposed to?” Each side will answer their question Then each side will be given time to say why they think their ideas are better.