This book is a collection of essays by respected academics from Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. They cut through the complexities of NAFTA and provide the reader with a clear view of the main issues. The book asks whether NAFTA is a free trade agreement or just an agreement on how to manage a limited amount of trade. How ill Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. benefit? How will disputes get settled between these countries? The book also takes on the difficult question of what effect free trade in ideas, skills, and capital will have on North-American culture.

Beyond NAFTA is unique among discussions of NAFTA in that it gathers the expertise of researchers from many different academic fields. These experts provide their views on the political, economic, and sociological effects of NAFTA. Some of them examine what is not in the deal for everybody involved. Others warn of potential problem areas in the deal such as subsidies, intellectual property rights, environmental policy implementation, and the increasingly parochial character of the North American economy.