The benefits of NAFTA help make it an agreement which helps those involved.

While Ross Perot clearly did not support NAFTA, it was he who first made outsourcing popular with his company, Electronic Data Systems (which was later bought by Dell, another company with a heavily accented customer support). This could perhaps explain his fiery abhorrence for the agreement – he was in the habit of the very practices he feared would render the agreement detrimental. Nonetheless, there are a series of acknowledged benefits to NAFTA.

For example, many analysts agree that NAFTA offers improved opportunities to small and medium-sized businesses. The elimination of various trade sanctions, such as the requirement to establish a presence in a country before one can do business, opened markets to smaller businesses that hitherto could not afford them. Furthermore, given that Mexican consumers purchase more United States goods than countries outside of North America, the ratification of NAFTA meant the exponential expansion of various markets that were otherwise largely inaccessible.

Other reported benefits include improved investment opportunities and the elimination of trade hindrances, but, by and large, the utmost perceived benefit is the aggregate North American economy. As a global economy continues to coalesce, it is necessary to develop as firm as stronghold as possible in global market share. Without the development of larger entities such as North America under NAFTA and the European Union, the emergence of a completely globalized economy could result in problems including market stagnation and monopolies.

Specific Improvements from NAFTA

Specific improvements resulting from NAFTA have been noted in various studies. These include increases within North America in:

• GDP
• Trade
• Investment
• Economic growth (more than any other industrialized nation in 1997)
• U.S. exports
• Properly-handled trade disputes
• Market access for both small and large firms (linked to a reduction in trade disputes)
• Economic transparency between the three nations

In Mexico, specific market improvements following the ratification of NAFTA include:

• The garment industry (314% increase in revenue between 1993 and 1997)
• The jewelry industry (50% increase in exports between 1993 and 1997)
• The ceramic and handicraft industry (60% increase in exports between 1993 and 1997)

Proponents of NAFTA in various sectors include (a) specialists in foreign affairs, (b) experts in national security, (c) officials at the state and local level, (d) academicians and think tank members, (e) religious leaders, (f) engineers and scientists, and (g) federal staff. Ergo, although it was not ubiquitously well received, NAFTA does have its support and its strong points; indeed, many even argue that the agreement’s weaknesses cannot be substantively verified.