NAFTA
NAFTA is a free trade area which encompasses the U.S.A., Canada, Mexico and some Latin American countries, with plans to extend it to the whole American Continent.
The NAFTA Issues
To the Euro sceptic NAFTA on the surface is a dream : free trade (a reason why we should join the Euro for which they have no answer) with no plans for political unity.
The question however which must be asked is how much do they know of the impacts of NAFTA on the member economies : the US$1.7 billion trade surplus the U.S.A. enjoyed with Mexico turned into a US$16.2 billion deficit, costing directly upto 250 000 jobs in the U.S.A. as companies moved to Mexico where labour is so much cheaper.
The same will happen to the U.K. on a smaller scale since we are economically similar to the U.S.A. in relation to Mexico.
NAFTA attempts to economically unite countries for free trade without any other common areas, which has been 'disastrous' for jobs in member states. The E.U. wants the benefits of free trade, but realises that there needs to be a certain amount of integration in other areas as well for it to be sucessful, and the Euro is building on the success of the E.U.
NAFTA is not a viable alternative to the E.U. !
And is it not the case that the Euro sceptics fear loosing identity to Europe, the land mass of which the U.K. is a part, whilst here they are advocating we join a North American association with potential plans for full political integration !
The fact is that business like big currency blocks, so on this issue in the long term we must make a decision now : are we a key player in the E.U. or the 51st state of the U.S.A ?