page_title: North American Free Trade Agreement
section_title: Signing
hierarchical_section_title: North American Free Trade Agreement / Negotiation, signing, ratification, and revision (1988–94) / Signing
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Signature de l'Accord de libre-échange nord-américain en octobre 1992. De gauche à droite, debouts&#160;: Carlos Salinas de Gortari (président mexicain), George H. W. Bush (président américain) et Brian Mulroney (premier ministre canadien). De gauche à droite, assis&#160;: Jaime Serra Puche (Secrétaire du Commerce international et du développement industriel du Mexique), Carla Hills (Représentant au Commerce des États-Unis) et Michael Wilson (ministre du Commerce international du Canada). English: NAFTA Initialing Ceremony, October 1992 From left to right (standing) Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, US President George H. W. Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. (Seated) Mexican Secretary of Commerce and Industrial Development Jaime Serra Puche, United States Trade Representative Carla Hills, Canadian Minister of International Trade Michael Wilson.
context_page_description: The North American Free Trade Agreement was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that created a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994, and superseded the 1988 Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement between the United States and Canada. The NAFTA trade bloc formed one of the largest trade blocs in the world by gross domestic product.
  The impetus for a North American free trade zone began with U.S. president Ronald Reagan, who made the idea part of his 1980 presidential campaign. After the signing of the Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement in 1988, the administrations of U.S. president George H. W. Bush, Mexican president Carlos Salinas de Gortari, and Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney agreed to negotiate what became NAFTA. Each submitted the agreement for ratification in their respective capitals in December 1992, but NAFTA faced significant opposition in both the United States and Canada. All three countries ratified NAFTA in 1993 after the addition of two side agreements, the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation and the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation.
context_section_description: Following diplomatic negotiations dating back to 1990, the leaders of the three nations signed the agreement in their respective capitals on December 17, 1992. The signed agreement then  needed to be ratified by each nation's legislative or parliamentary branch.
caption: Back row, left to right: Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, U.S. President George H. W. Bush, and Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, at the initialing of the draft North American Free Trade Agreement in October 1992. In front are Mexican Secretary of Commerce and Industrial Development Jaime Serra Puche, United States Trade Representative Carla Hills, and Canadian Minister of International Trade Michael Wilson.
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