International Trade : A Comparative Advantage Essay

The international trade sector of the U.S. economy continues to draw attention in economic and political circles. It is true that, the international market has become increasingly important as a source of demand for U.S. production and a source of supply for U.S. consumption. Indeed, it is substantially more important than is implied by the usual measures that relate the size of the international sector to the overall economy. This paper explores the role international trade now plays in the U.S. economy and answers the important questions for economic policy: How does international trade affect economic well-being? Who gains and who loses from free

Trade is an important transfer that is vital to the abundance of a country. International trade allows countries to exchange their goods and can improve their economies. Many businesses within the United States dislike international imports because they reduce their business within the U.S. Some people believe business can be improved within the United States by imposing tariffs on imports. Tariffs are taxes on imported goods from other countries. Others who favor international trade believe it’s beneficial to establish trade agreements. One trade agreement is NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, which President George H.W. Bush signed on December 8th, 1993. The treaty included the countries Canada, Mexico, and the United States, and intertwined all of their economies. It eliminated most of the tariffs between the three countries and installed a supply chain, which is a network where different countries make specific parts of a product. Recently, President Trump has proposed that NAFTA be abolished, to promote products manufactured in the United States. This recent situation relates to the issue of the tariffs at the Philadelphia Convention. At the time of the convention, the Northern states’ economy was based on manufacturing, so they wanted to impose tariffs to promote American products. The South’s economy was agricultural based, and exported many goods to Great Britain. So Southerners feared that if tariffs were imposed on Britain’s goods, then Britain would do the same on products from the South, which would negatively affect the South’s economy. Trade can be very beneficial to a country, but states can have different opinions on whether tariffs are necessary, depending

Canada, Mexico and the United States were all involved in NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement. This agreement had really helped improve Canada’s economy and raised the standards of living in Canada. NAFTA had also proved itself to be a solid foundation to building Canada’s prosperity which is good for Canada’s independence as well (North, 1). After the free trade agreement, there were many positive effects in the Canadian economy. John F. Kerry, an American politician had once said, “NAFTA recognizes the reality of today's economy - globalization and technology.”(John, 1) This agreement states that Canada is helping in globalizing the economy of not only America but Canada and Mexico as well. In this case, the agreement is improving and benefiting the Canadian economy very well which is great for Canada's independence. It shows that Canada can make its own decisions with other countries to benefit their own country in many ways economic wise as well as independence wise. This also shows that although Canada and America are important trading partners, it doesn't necessarily mean that one country is a step behind the other. It means that if they work together, they can benefit each other and help improve one another's growth as

In 1994, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was enacted between two industrial countries and a yet still developing nation. This was an agreement that was the first of its kind due to the relationship that the countries had and the investment opportunities that it presented. The United States, Canada, and developing Mexico decided to work towards eliminating most tariffs and non-tariff barriers between the three in order to increase the flow of trade in goods and services. Since its enactment NAFTA has led to the providing of over 40 million more jobs throughout the countries, and it has also tripled merchandise trade between the three participants to an astounding $946 billion USD in 2008 (NAFTA Now). However even then it is still not very clear whether enacting NAFTA was worth the time and effort and in fact the United States may have been better off not having joined NAFTA.

The North American Free Trade Agreement between Canada, the United States, and Mexico continues to be greatly beneficial to Canada and its citizens after twenty-two years since the agreement came into effect in 1994. NAFTA has remained as one of Canada’s greatest assets, increasing trading traffic of goods and services. The free trade agreement benefits Canada because it creates more employment, provides Canadians with more selection in goods, and increases economic growth. The North American Free Trade Agreement brings Canada great leverage and will, in all likelihood, continue to benefit us in the future.

The North American Free Trade Agreement, commonly known as the NAFTA, is a trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico launched to enable North America to become more competitive in the global marketplace (Amadeo, 2011). The NAFTA is regarded as “one of the most successful trade agreements in history” for its impact on increases in agricultural trade and investment among the three contracting nations (North American Free Trade Agreement, 2011). Supporters and opponents of the NAFTA have argued the effects of the agreement on participating nations since its inception; yet, close examination proves that NAFTA has had a relatively positive impact on the economies of the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

In fact, trade with Canada and Mexico supports 14 million American jobs and generates $1.3 trillion annually in goods and services traded across our borders. However, with the implementation of trade agreements such as the NAFTA, the world has become more interconnected, and citizens must be aware of the effects such trade agreements have on their living standards and job security.

Though the trade agreement between U.S., Canada and Mexico benefits Canada, it also causes negative impacts. U.S. today is the largest export market for Canada as 75% of Canada’s merchandise exports go to the U.S.1 Therefore it is evident that Canada’s biggest source of direct investment and debt capital is in fact, the U.S.1 Being such a heavy partner in trade U.S.’ fluctuation in economy in turn creates fluctuation in Canadian economy.10 This was prominently evident during the time of the United States’ second recession.10 The falling of the American dollar created pressures on Canada as intra regional trade declined from $421 billion in 2000 to $383 billion.1 This in turn resulted in a loss of trade as a percentage of world merchandise exports, from 6.8% in 2001 to 6.1% in 2002 causing the FDI to significantly decline as compared to the European Union at the time1. This not only affected Canada but also affected Mexico by causing 400,000 Mexicans to lose their jobs.

Economic growth means a growth of the country’s income, which is connected to a nation’s output growth in a fixed period. The NAFTA has designed from a deal which is made by three countries, Canada, America and Mexico in prior decades. The vigorous growth of the inputs and outputs of the goods and services gave a promote action on these countries’ economy due to the free trade agreement. According to the details of the agreement, it is clearly close the relationships between a developing country and two developed countries. Because of this agreement, it creates a liquid circulation of trade and investment flows among the NAFTA members. In fact, to act as the largest single export market of the U.S.A, Canada sends ninety eight percent of its

It is commonly believed that free trade between nations is a mutually beneficial arrangement for all parties involved; indeed, this is held to be an absolute truth. Though free trade is undoubtedly the most effective form of commerce between countries from a purely economic standpoint, increasingly we find that our so-called "free trade agreements" are horribly unbalanced. Indicative of these fiascoes is the North American

In the article “NAFTA at 20: Overviews and Trade Effects” by Villarreal and Fergusson, we are given and account of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Specifically, the article is broken down into four main sections. They are: trade liberalization before the implementation of NAFTA, an overview of NAFTA provisions, trade trends and economic effects, and policy considerations respectively. In each of these sections, the article discusses in detail how what NAFTA is and how it has affected the US, Canadian, and Mexican economies. Therefore, let us briefly examine NAFTA.

Employment is the main source of income for the majority of the population in United States, Canada and Mexico. Therefore, the most prevalent method of measuring a trade agreements impact on the well-being of the populace can be found by calculating the number of jobs gained or lost as a result of the agreement and the quality of said jobs. The largest trade agreement in North America is called NAFTA. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was officially signed on January 1st 1994, creating the largest and one of the most powerful free trade regions of the world. NAFTA governs the entire spectrum of trade and commerce on the North American continent uniting the economies of Canada, Mexico, and the United States. This agreement has

The country can maximize their wealth by putting the resources in the most competitive industries. Government created comparative advantage rather than free trade because now easier moves the production processes and the machines into countries that can produce more goods (Yeager & Tuereck, 1984). However, many countries now move to new trade theory suggests the ability firms to limit the number of competitors associated with economic scale (reduction of costs with a large scale of output) (Krugman, 1992). The comparative advantage occurs when two-way trade in identical products, it will useful where economic scale is important, but it will create problem with this model. As a result, government must intervene in international trade for protection to domestic firms (Krugman, 1990)

”Free trade policies have created a level of competition in today's open market that engenders continual innovation and leads to better products, better-paying jobs, new markets, and increased savings and investment” (Denise Froning). Though Free trade plays a huge role in the economy today because of what and where it is used. Free trade allows for traders to trade across national boundaries and other countries without government interference. Meaning that traders have very few regulations that allow for them to do this without the government intervening. Free trade makes things for traders much easier and also allows for many more jobs in the US, such as exporting jobs, or jobs in the auto industry and plants. Though there are many

The principle of comparative advantage provides a simplified theory explaining why free trade is possible, even when one country has an economic disadvantage. Both the Ricardian and Heckscher-Ohlin theories rely on fixed economic assumptions of constant return and perfect competition. However, intuitively the basic principle of business is to increase returns through innovation, improving processes and technology or increasing economies of scale. Organizations understand they control pricing and are price setters, rather than price takers as suggested by perfect competition (Krugman & Obstfeld, 2003). The idea of increasing returns and imperfect competition challenge the foundations of comparative advantage.