But regional integration also has potential drawbacks.
Trade may be diverted away from nonmember nations and toward members because of the lower tariffs levied on goods from members. Unfortunately, this can reduce trade with a more efficient nonmember nation and boost trade with a less efficient member.
In the absence of trade barriers, productivity decides where a good or service is produced. So, a member nation’s unskilled, low-wage jobs may move to a relatively lower-wage member’s economy.
And integration always means surrendering some degree of national sovereignty, with political union demanding the most from member nations.