The North America Competitiveness Scorecard shows that NAFTA has had a net positive effect on the U.S. economy and together, Canada, Mexico and the United States outperform the world’s other major trading groups.

The results from the scorecard, an interactive tool that compares competitiveness between countries and trade group, were presented by the George W. Bush Institute’s Economic Growth team at the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Canada Institute.

The scorecard also analyzes the economic performance of the North American nations, and finds that the United States and its neighbors have grown faster, created more jobs, and traded more with the rest of the world than their major competitors since NAFTA was enacted.

“NAFTA is criticized for somehow harming the United States economy, but our analysis suggests that the U.S. economy has experienced steady economic growth, job creation, and expansion of international trade since NAFTA was signed,” said Matthew Rooney, Director of Economic Growth at the Bush Institute. “The data we have collected suggests that the American approach to regional integration has been an effective strategy for encouraging innovation and promoting global competitiveness.”

Congressman Will Hurd (R-Texas) opened the Scorecard discussion with keynote remarks on how a stronger NAFTA can contribute to America’s competiveness, and the event concluded with former U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Wilkins moderating an expert discussion on the outlooks for regional competitiveness in light of the on-going NAFTA negotiations.

The first version of the Scorecard was unveiled in 2015 with a goal to compare competitive positions of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, and benchmark North America’s performance in international rankings on issues like business climate, innovation, openness to trade, and good governance against the performance of other major countries and trade groupings. New to the latest version is the ability to explore how APEC and the EU’s approach to economic and political integration has affected member countries’ growth, job creation, and global competitiveness. Explore this new feature here.

The Scorecard is part of the Bush Institute’s Economic Growth initiative’s ongoing efforts to advocate free market principles that promote economic growth and further economic integration throughout North America, enabling the U.S. to better compete in the global economy.

Source: George W. Bush Institute