It’s been almost two decades since Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. signed the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. When then-president Bill Clinton signed it, he told Congress that the agreement was the only correct response to the world’s rapidly changing economy. As a border state and a major agricultural producer, California has a big stake in NAFTA.
U.C. Berkeley geography professor Harley Shaiken has written extensively on the agreement, and he spoke with KALW's Holly Kernan about what NAFTA has meant for this state.
HARLEY SHAIKEN: NAFTA isn’t an obscure trade agreement that we may have forgotten about... Everyone who lives in California wakes up feeling the impacts one way or another.
Click the audio players above to listen to all three parts of the interview. Part One covers the impacts NAFTA has had on California; Part Two examines manufacturing in the U.S.; and Part Three covers economic development in Mexico.
