What Happens to Texas If the U.S. Withdraws From NAFTA?

What happens if the United States withdraws from NAFTA? The answer to this question obviously boils down to what NAFTA has brought to the United States — and to Texas.In two decades, merchandise trade among the three member countries grew from $290 billion in 1993 to $1.1 trillion in 2016 — a nearly fourfold increase. An astonishing $2 million of goods and services cross the borders every minute. Mexico alone imports more U.S. goods than China, and absorbs more U.S. imports than Britain, France and Germany combined. Canada imports even more made-in-USA goods.What about jobs? In brief, approximately 300,000 U.S. jobs — an average of 15,000 per year — were lost due to NAFTA in its first two decades, but about 100,000 jobs were added. The net loss was small, since the U.S. economy generated at least 25 million new jobs during the same period. At present, 8 million U.S. jobs depend on trade with Canada and another 6 million on trade with Mexico.  Continue reading...