NAFTA

Meaning: -
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is an agreement among the United
States, Canada and Mexico designed to remove tariff barriers between the three countries.

Concept of NAFTA: -
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is a treaty entered by the United
States, Canada, and Mexico; it went into effect on January 1, 1994. On that day, the three
countries became the largest free market in the world the combined economies of the three
nations at that time measured $6 trillion and directly affected more than 365 million people.
NAFTA was created to eliminate tariff barriers to agricultural, manufacturing, and services; to
remove investment restrictions; and to protect intellectual property rights. This was to be done
while also addressing environmental and labor concerns. Small businesses were among those
that were expected to benefit the most from the lowering of trade barriers since it would make
doing business in Mexico and Canada less expensive and would reduce the red tape needed to
import or export goods.

Benefits of NAFTA: -
Tariff elimination for qualifying products. Before NAFTA, tariffs of 30 percent or higher on
export goods to Mexico were common, as were long delays caused by paperwork. NAFTA
addressed this imbalance by phasing out tariffs over 15 years. Approximately 50 percent of the
tariffs were abolished immediately when the agreement took effect, and the remaining tariffs
were targeted for gradual elimination. Among the areas specifically covered by NAFTA are
construction, engineering, accounting, advertising, consulting/management, architecture, health-
care management, commercial education, and tourism.

Elimination of nontariff barriers by 2008. This includes opening the border and interior of
Mexico to U.S. truckers and streamlining border processing and licensing requirements.
Nontariff barriers were the biggest obstacle to conducting business in Mexico that small
exporters faced.

Establishment of standards. The three NAFTA countries agreed to toughen health, safety, and
industrial standards to the highest existing standards among the three countries. Also, national
standards could no longer be used as a barrier to free trade. The speed of export-product
inspections and certifications was also improved.
 Supplemental agreements. To ease concerns that Mexico's low wage scale would cause U.S.
companies to shift production to that country, and to ensure that Mexico's increasing
industrialization would not lead to rampant pollution, special side agreements were included in
NAFTA. Under those agreements, the three countries agreed to establish commissions to handle
labor and environmental issues. The commissions have the power to impose steep fines against
any of the three governments that failed to impose its laws consistently. Environmental and labor
groups from both the United States and Canada, however, have repeatedly charged that the
regulations and guidelines detailed in these supplemental agreements have not been enforced.

Tariff reduction for motor vehicles and auto parts and automobile rules of origin.

Expanded telecommunications trade.

Reduced textile and apparel barriers.

More free trade in agriculture. Mexican import licenses were immediately abolished, with most
additional tariffs phased out over a 10-year period.

Expanded trade in financial services.

Opening of insurance markets.

Increased investment opportunities.

Liberalized regulation of land transportation.

Increased protection of intellectual property rights. NAFTA stipulated that, for the first time,
Mexico had to provide a very high level of protection for intellectual property rights. This is
especially helpful in fields such as computer software and chemical production. Mexican firms
will no longer be able to steal intellectual property from companies and create a "Mexican"
version of a product.

Expanded the rights of American firms to make bids on Mexican and Canadian government
procurement contracts.

Future of NAFTA
The harder remote substance guidelines would apply both to imports from Mexico
and Canada, this could influence Canadian generation to some degree outside
substance principles would apply both to imports from Mexico and Canada, this
could influence Canadian creation to some degree.
 U.S.- Canada exchange will nearer to being in adjust.

They will change the govern for import of auto from various countries.

one of the issue, for example, American occupations are controlling by various
nations which pick up an upper hand. A renegotiation of NAFTA could address this
issue.

One issue of identified with U.S agriculturists will be understood in future i.e.
U.S. ranchers trust that they could offer significantly a greater amount of these items in
Canada if Canadian import confinements were facilitated.

Many nations are thinking about requiring confinement of information stockpiling

for the sake of national security or protection, however it is just unrealistic for any global
business to store organization information in each place where it works. This is another
and developing issue.

Canada permits its nationals returning from going to the U.S. to acquire obligation
free contrasted and the obligation free recompense for Americans coming back to the
U.S. from Canada. This measure would be mainstream among Canadian voyagers and be
useful for U.S. retailers.

US finds a way to contribute intensely on American foundation, Canadian

organizations will need to have the capacity to offer without being liable to separation on
contracts.
 Concept of Colonisation
Meaning: -
Colonialism is the policy of a nation seeking to extend or retain its authority over
other peoples or territories. Colonialism involves unequal relationships between the
colonial power and the colony and often between the colonists and the indigenous
peoples. Colonialism is a relationship between an indigenous majority and a minority of
foreign invaders.

Aboriginal Canada
Who had been living on the northern half of the North American continent since first
arrived from Asia, via the Bering Land Bridge, around 21,000 B.C. Over the centuries these
indigenous Amerindian, Native American or Indian tribes, which today prefer to be called
the First Nations of Canada, lived in small, nomadic groupings across all regions of the
country, even extremely inhospitable areas like the barren central grasslands and northern arctic.
Over the course of the centuries, these communities developed into organized societies that,
although technologically primitive by todays standards, nevertheless maintained sustainable
economies, sophisticated political systems, complex spiritual beliefs, and rich, vibrant cultures.

Aboriginal peoples refer to three distinct groups:

Indian refers to all Aboriginal people who are not Inuit or Mtis. In the 1970s, the term First
Nations began to be used. Today, about half of First Nations people live on reserve land in about
600 communities while the other half live off-reserve, mainly in urban centers.
The Inuit, which means the people in the Inuktitut language, live in small, scattered
communities across the Arctic. Their knowledge of the land, sea and wildlife enabled them to
adapt to one of the harshest environments on earth.
The Mtis are a distinct people of mixed Aboriginal and European ancestry, the majority of
whom live in the Prairie provinces.

French settlement
From the founding of the city of Quebec in 1608, to the handing over of Canada to Great Britain
in 1763, France controlled three-quarters of the total land mass of North America.
The first inhabitants in New France were mostly single men. They arrived as indentured
laborers, that is, they did not pay their fare to cross the Atlantic but after arriving in New France
had to work for 36 months to reimburse their masters for the cost of their passage. Fed and
housed for the duration of their contract of service, they could if they wished return to France
when it ended.

In the early 1660s almost half of the inhabitants of New France were recent immigrants. The
population grew as more colonists arrived; by1666 it numbered 3,215 persons.

British settlement
When the British took political control in 1763, New France had 70,000 inhabitants. The number
of English-speaking settlers in Canada rose rapidly after the American Revolution and the arrival
here of the Loyalists from the American colonies to the south, as well as the expansion of
immigration from Europe.

History of Colonization in Canada

The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples grouped the history of colonization in Canada
into four stages:
Stage 1: Separate Worlds (up to 1500 AD) Indigenous and non-Indigenous societies developed
on their own in lands far from each other, with different cultures and forms of social
organization. This changed when Europeans arrived and began to settle in North America.
Stage 2: Contact and Co-operation (1500 to 1870) A growing non-Indigenous population
sought ways to foster co-existence, mostly in the form of trading and military alliances. Despite a
steep decline in Indigenous populations due to diseases carried by settlers, this time was marked
by mutual tolerance and respect, with each society left to govern its own internal affairs.
Stage 3: Displacement and Assimilation (1871 to 1969) In this period, most of non-Indigenous
societynow larger and more dominantstopped respecting their Indigenous neighbors.
Interventions in the lives and lands of Indigenous peoples grew as the dominant culture set up
policies that forcefully absorbed Indigenous land and people into the Canadian mainstream.
Stage 4: Negotiation and Renewal (1970 to present) Supreme Court victories for Indigenous
peoples, along with the recognition that assimilation was a failure compelled non-Indigenous
society to begin seeking change to the relationship through dialogue, consultation and
negotiation. Meanwhile, Indigenous leaders regained greater control over their own affairs and
re-established their own societies by healing the wounds caused by decades of domination.
During Colonisation
Canada was colonized by the British in 1497. They came because of all of the untapped
resources in Canada. Although the takeover wasn't as violent, it was still traumatic for the
people. Like the Aborigines of Australia, the Inuit children were taken away and made to
assimilate into white society. As well as this the Inuit's were treated very badly and were forced
off their land to make room for the British. The Inuit's were also forced to become Christians
against their will. Although they gained resources such as iron for tools, the British also brought
with them a whole host of diseases such as small pox, measles and T.B which were fatal for
much of the population. They were also forced to discard a lot of their culture and religion.

Present day
In the 1970's the Canadian government recognized how badly the Inuit were being treated, so
they decided to work together with the Inuit to create a better life for all. For a little while it
worked. The people started to combine the new and the old and they started to accept the Inuit's
practicing their own religion. However, there were still many parts in the society that need to be
fixed. The living conditions of the Canadian Aboriginal communities are ranked 63rd on the
United Nations human development index. Most of the children suffer from mental or physical
disabilities, live in poverty are involved with alcohol and drugs and are caught up in the youth
criminal justice system. One in ten aboriginal children are placed in care whereas only one in
200 non-aboriginal children are placed in care. Aboriginal children are more likely to contract
diseases such as TB and diabetes. 70% of Canadian natives will not graduate from high school.
Most of the Inuit population are illiterate or live in underdeveloped regions. We believe the
Canadian government should find a way to improve the Inuit population's education and skills
for them to be able to contribute to their communities.

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