RESHAPING THE REGIONAL ECONOMIC INTEGRATION: THE CASE OF NAFTA-USMCA TRANSFORMATION

Abstract

Global trends indicate that the activation of integration processes characterize the state-of-the-art situation of the world economy. The WTO statistics show the constant growth in the number of regional trade agreements (RTA). These RTAs are not the static entities of the global economy but dynamic actors which are reshaping all the time (Brexit, NAFTA-USMCA transformation, Ukraine’s exit from the CIS can prove this). The objective of this study is the recent change in the NAFTA agreement as one of the most influential RTA in the world. According to The World Bank data in 2019 global GDP consisted of NAFTA’s GDP on 28 %, global export consisted of NAFTA’s export on 12 %, meanwhile, NAFTA’s import was 19 % of the global one. The investigation shows that all of the NAFTA countries took the advantage of the deal and had their benefits. Separately they would never have achieved such astounding results in quite a short period of time.

Keywords

• integration
• regional trade agreement
• NAFTA
• economic integration
• free trade agreement