Most of the trade-related effects of NAFTA may be attributed to changes in trade and investment
patterns with Mexico because economic integration between Canada and the United States had
already been taking place. As mentioned previously, while NAFTA may have accelerated U.S.-
Mexico trade since 1993, other factors, such as economic growth patterns, also affected trade. As
trade tends to increase during cycles of economic growth, it tends to decrease as growth declines.
The economic downturns in 2001 and 2009, for example, likely played a role in the decline in
both U.S. exports to and imports from Canada and Mexico, as shown in Figure 1.