Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement
The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) (French: Accord de libre-échange (ALE)) was a trade agreement reached by negotiators for Canada and the United States on October 4, 1987 and signed by the leaders of both countries on January 2, 1988. The agreement phased out a wide range of trade restrictions in stages over a ten year period, and resulted in a great increase in cross-border trade. With the addition of Mexico in 1994 FTA was superseded by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (French: Accord de libre-échange Nord Américain (ALENA), Spanish:Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte (TLCAN)).
As stated in the agreement, the main purposes of the Canadian-United States Free Trade Agreement were:
- eliminate barriers to trade in goods and services between Canada and the United States;
- facilitate conditions of fair competition within the free-trade area established by the Agreement;
- significantly liberalize conditions for investment within that free-trade area;
- establish effective procedures for the joint administration of the Agreement and the resolution of disputes;
- lay the foundation for further bilateral and multilateral cooperation to expand and enhance the benefits of the Agreement.
Read more about Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement: History, Negotiation, Debate and Implementation, Effects
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