IntroductionThe North American Free Trade Agreement, commonly known as NAFTA, is a trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico launched to allow North America to become more competitive in the global market market (Amadeo, 2011). NAFTA is considered “one of the most successful trade agreements in history” for its impact on increasing agricultural trade and investment between the three contracting nations (North American Free Trade Agreement, 2011). Supporters and opponents of NAFTA have debated the agreement's effects on participating nations since its inception; however, careful examination shows that NAFTA has had a relatively positive impact on the economies of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. While NAFTA is not without its problems, the trade agreement has leveled the playing field for the three participating nations and increased cross-border trade, which positively contributes to globalization. The success or failure of NAFTA impacts the level of employment, economy and environment of the three contracting nations. With the implementation of trade agreements such as NAFTA, the world has become more interconnected and citizens need to be aware of the effects such trade agreements have on their standard of living and job security. Characteristics of NAFTA NAFTA was implemented on January 1, 1994 to remove trade tariff barriers between the United States, Canada, and Mexico by providing duty-free trade in multiple classes of goods (Barufaldi, 2008). NAFTA creates a free trade area in which all barriers to trade between member countries are removed. Many of the tariffs affecting agricultural trade between participating nations were eliminated at the inception of the agreement...... middle of document......ttp://www.ustr.gov/sites/default/ files/ NAFTA-Myth-versus-Fact.pdfNorth American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). (n.d.). USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS). Retrieved September 15, 2011, from http://www.fas.usda.gov/itp/policy/nafta/nafta.aspNorth American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). (n.d.). Public citizen. Retrieved September 16, 2011, from http://www.citizen.org/Page.aspx?pid=531Teslik, L.H. (2009, July 7). The economic impact of NAFTA. Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved September 13, 2011, from www.cfr.org/economics/naftas-economic-impact/p15790USTR- North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) | Office of the United States Trade Representative. (n.d.). (2011). Office of the United States Trade Representative. Retrieved September 16, 2011, from http://www.ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/north-american-free-trade-agreement-nafta