ABSTRACT
The geostrategic logic of the North American Free Trade Agreement from the perspectives of its three members, the United States, Canada and Mexico, is a set of questions that will shape its evolution profoundly. Traditionally the state has been regards as sovereign in trade negotiations although interest groups and ideology mediated its decisions. The president or prime minister is, does make a difference, at least regarding this more specific question, not of whether trade liberalization, but of whither trade liberalization, global or regional. The trade dominance “by region” has replaced trade dominance “by individual state.” Decision authority over matters of trade and commerce is always diffuse and shared across actors. The very high proportion of Canadian trade and foreign investment associated with United States institutions, and the much bigger size of the American economy, the Canadian dollar responds very strongly to US monetary policy.
