In a globalized world, the negotiation of international treaties and agreements by two or more countries is more and more common. The exchange of goods, services, technology, and manufactures and the development of continental platforms for the regional distribution of products are some of the reasons countries pursue Agreements for preferential access to important markets. Some economies require a greater number of trade negotiations with various countries to increase market penetration and complement their productive sectors. This is the case of one of the trade partners of the United States of America, Mexico. Mexico started this globalization effort precisely with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiations. The governments of the three countries (Mexico, the United States, and Canada) found and encompassed in such Agreement the rules of the game to have preferential access to their markets, abiding by the provisions of the World Trade Organization (WTO) through its Marrakech Agreement and, certainly, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) structure. In spite of the variety of problems generated in the member countries after the implementation of NAFTA, the benefits for the three countries have been evident. Specifically with respect to Mexico, exports increased dramatically, a productive force was created through export promotion programs, investment sectors previously closed were opened, productive and consumer sectors were complemented, etc. There may be certain areas where all expectations are not yet fulfilled, such as technology exchange. However, through the “maquila” or in-bond industry, Mexico has received technology but only to meet the manufacturing need of its productive processes. Most of the time, this technology is owned by the foreign companies in charge of the maquila activities in Mexico and remains only for a limited time in the country. Such technologies are not transferred with the purpose of being used in the development of new technology, so this is one of the goals that have not yet been achieved. The above is a good example of the need–mainly in developing countries–to complement free trade agreements with other similar agreements with different countries, offering mutual benefits and assuming shared responsibilities.
Global Trade and Customs Journal