NAFTA

Organizations & Companies abbreviation · International Organization

NAFTA
Stands forNorth American Free Trade Agreement
CategoriesOrganizations & Companies

NAFTA stands for North American Free Trade Agreement, an international organization abbreviation.

Trade agreement among the United States, Canada and Mexico that took effect on January 1, 1994, eliminating most tariffs and creating one of the world's largest free trade areas. It was replaced by the USMCA in 2020.

Example: Economists still debate how many manufacturing jobs moved to Mexico after NAFTA.

Usage notes

Negotiated under George H. W. Bush and signed in 1992, it was passed by Congress under Bill Clinton. Ross Perot famously warned of a "giant sucking sound" of jobs heading south. Its Chapter 11 allowed companies to sue governments through investor-state arbitration, a provision largely removed between the US and Canada in the USMCA.

More international organization abbreviations

  • IOM – International Organization for Migration
  • IPCC – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
  • ISO – International Organization for Standardization
  • ITU – International Telecommunication Union
  • IUCN – International Union for Conservation of Nature
  • MERCOSUR – Southern Common Market
  • NAM – Non-Aligned Movement
  • NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organization
  • OAS – Organization of American States
  • OAU – Organisation of African Unity
  • OCHA – United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
  • OECD – Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

See all 108 international organization abbreviations →