We spoke with James Roberts of The Heritage Foundation. We were also joined by Fausta Wertz (Fausta's Blog) and Michael Prada.
Our topic was free trade agreements, from NAFTA in '93 to the Colombia FTA that was recently implemented. These agreements have been good for US companies and have contributed to raise living standards in Mexico and other countries.
For example, NAFTA has boosted trade between Canada, the US & Mexico:
"Trade between the NAFTA signatories more than quadrupled, from $297 billion in 1993 to $1.6 trillion in 2009 (latest data available). Exports from the U.S. to Canada and Mexico grew from $142 billion to $452 billion in 2007, then declined to $397 billion in 2009, thanks to the 2008 financial crisis. Exports from Canada and Mexico to the U.S. increased from $151 billion to $568 billion in 2007, then down to $438 billion in 2009. (Source: Office of the US Trade Representative, NAFTA)
It has also been good for US farmers. They are now exporting more and more to Mexico and Canada.
The bottom line is that free trade works. It does not mean that everything turns out rosy. However, there is more good than bad and that's pretty good.
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