The NAFTA agreement will remove most barriers to trade and investment among the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Implementation of the agreement began on January 1, 1994.

Under NAFTA, all non-tariff measures affecting agricultural trade between the United States and Mexico were eliminated on Jan. 1, 1994. These barriers were converted to either tariff-rate quotas or ordinary tariffs. All agricultural tariffs between Mexico and the United States will be eliminated. Many were eliminated with immediate effect and others will be phased out over transition periods of 5, 10, or 15 years. Tariff reductions between the United States and Canada had already been implemented under the U.S.-Canada FTA.

Mexico and Canada reached a separate bilateral NAFTA agreement on market access for agricultural products. The Mexican-Canadian agreement eliminated most tariffs either immediately or over 5, 10, or 15 years.

NAFTA provides for tough rules of origin to ensure that maximum benefits accrue only to those items produced in North America.