The Five-Year Effect of NAFTA on Pennsylvania

An Analysis of Export Data

Abstract

This article explores the effect of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on Pennsylvania since the agreement's enactment on January 1, 1994. It does so by examining export statistics related to Pennsylvania as a whole as well as to several key regions within the state. As judged by these export statistics, NAFTA's impact on Pennsylvania has been quite positive. At the very least, increases in exports from Pennsylvania since NAFTA's enactment have been so strong that critics of the agreement will be hard-pressed in making a case against it.