THE VALUE OF NAFTA TO THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed on January 1, 1994, by Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a free-trade bloc in North America. [...] Lawrence National Centre for Policy and Management 6 that NAFTA has had a positive effect on inward FDI into the region, with the benefits accruing only to the U. S. and Canada, and trends favouring the former more than the latter.5 6 A 2014 report by M. Angeles Villarreal and Ian Fergusson7 found that the most significant trade-related effects were felt in industries exposed to the removal of tar [...] Because it had been in force longer than many of the other FTAs, NAFTA trade represented 92% of the net employment gains across all FTAs, 92% of the output gains, and 80% of the total U. S. goods and services export increases. [...] The lack of rules for trade in service, along with the imprecise rules of origin in the automotive industry, would necessitate a renegotiation of the deal. [...] Summary All of these policies have the same effect of raising the cost of production in the Great Lakes region, as goods cross the border several times in production, which is due, in part, to production specialization in the region, as illustrated by trade flow data between Ontario and the GLS8.