North American Free Trade Agreement

The North American Free Trade Agreement (English North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA, French Accord de libre échange North américain, Alena; Spanish Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN ) is an extensive business association between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, forming a free trade area in the North American continent. The NAFTA was established on 1 January 1994. With the entry into force of the Free Trade Agreement, numerous duties were abolished, many more were exposed in time. The agreement was embodied in the Canadian- American Free Trade Agreement of 1989 which, in contrast to the European Union perceives no supranational government functions and take no position precedence over national law in its provisions. It is an inter-state agreement.

The North American Free Trade Agreement ( NAFTA) has two side agreements: the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation ( NAAEC ) for environmental concerns and the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation ( NAALC ) for labor rights.