[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 28 (Monday, July 14, 1997)]
[Pages 1054-1055]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to the Congress Transmitting the Study on the Operation and 
Effect of the North American Free Trade Agreement

July 11, 1997

To the Congress of the United States:

    I am pleased to transmit the Study on the Operation and Effect of 
the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), as required by section 
512 of the NAFTA Implementation Act (Public Law 103-182; 107 Stat. 2155; 
19 U.S.C. 3462). The Congress and the Administration are right to be 
proud of this historic agreement. This report provides solid evidence 
that NAFTA has already proved its worth to the United States during the 
3 years it has been in effect. We can look

[[Page 1055]]

forward to realizing NAFTA's full benefits in the years ahead.
    NAFTA has also contributed to the prosperity and stability of our 
closest neighbors and two of our most important trading partners. NAFTA 
aided Mexico's rapid recovery from a severe economic recession, even as 
that country carried forward a democratic transformation of historic 
proportions.
    NAFTA is an integral part of a broader growth strategy that has 
produced the strongest U.S. economy in a generation. This strategy rests 
on three mutually supportive pillars: deficit reduction, investing in 
our people through education and training, and opening foreign markets 
to allow America to compete in the global economy. The success of that 
strategy can be seen in the strength of the American economy, which 
continues to experience strong investment, low unemployment, healthy job 
creation, and subdued inflation.
    Export growth has been central to America's economic expansion. 
NAFTA, together with the Uruguay Round Agreement, the Information 
Technology Agreement, the WTO Telecommunications Agreement, 22 sectoral 
trade agreements with Japan, and over 170 other trade agreements, has 
contributed to overall U.S. real export growth of 37 percent since 1993. 
Exports have contributed nearly one-third of our economic growth--and 
have grown three times faster than overall income.
    Workers, business executives, small business owners, and farmers 
across America have contributed to the resurgence in American 
competitiveness. The ability and determination of working people across 
America to rise to the challenges of rapidly changing technologies and 
global economic competition is a great source of strength for this 
Nation.
    Cooperation between the Administration and the Congress on a 
bipartisan basis has been critical in our efforts to reduce the deficit, 
to conclude trade agreements that level the global playing field for 
America, to secure peace and prosperity along America's borders, and to 
help prepare all Americans to benefit from expanded economic 
opportunities. I hope we can continue working together to advance these 
vital goals in the years to come.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
July 11, 1997.