Rethinking NAFTA

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is no longer a decisive issue in the 1996 presidential campaign. But Pat Buchanan's protectionist rhetoric struck a chord with voters worried about job security and stagnant wages. Critics of the free-trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico say it has encouraged U.S. manufacturers to move their operations south of the border to take advantage of Mexico's low wages, flooded the market with defective goods and aggravated environmental problems in the Southwest. Supporters say NAFTA has helped U.S. workers by creating new high-skill, high-wage jobs. The debate may determine the outcome of ongoing negotiations to expand NAFTA to include the rest of the Western Hemisphere by 2005.