After NAFTA: Trade Regionalization and the Emergence of a North American Economic Space

Abstract

NAFTA not only introduced a disciplinary benchmark among state participants, but it also conveyed a ‘policy shock’ in the region; that is, once firms and market actors realized the complete phasing out of barriers to both trade and investment and the new market-oriented disciplines of the game, they had to adapt their production and market strategies accordingly. This chapter will explore some of the impacts entangled by this policy change conveyed by the disciplinary regime, mainly in terms of a further regionalization of trade and, to a lesser extent, investments, and in terms of the locational advantages of trans-border regions within North America.