Globalization has become one of the most influential forces of the 20th century. The international integration of worldviews, products, trade and ideas has led various states to blur boundaries and open up to an international perspective. The merger of the European Union, the ASEAN group in the Pacific and NAFTA in North America reflects the notion of globalized trade. The North American Free Trade Agreement was by design the largest free trade area in the world and set an example for the future of liberalized trade. The North American Free Trade Agreement will celebrate its twentieth anniversary on January 1, 2014.1 NAFTA not only sought to improve trade in goods and services across the borders of Canada, the United States and Mexico, but it also fostered a common interest in the areas of investment, transport, communication, border relations, as well as environmental and labor issues. The North American Free Trade Agreement was revolutionary because it included Mexico in the agreement.2 Mexico was a much poorer, culturally different and protective country compared to countries like Canada and the United States. Many members of the U.S. Congress were against the deal because they did not want to make a deal with a country that had authoritarian rule, human rights abuses, and a flawed electoral system.3 Canadians and Americans feared that Mexico's lower wages and lax human rights laws would lead to massive job losses in their respected economies. Sovereignty issues have come into play throughout discussions of the North American Free Trade Agreement in Canada. Many found it problematic that bureaucrats and politicians from foreign countries would make decisions...... middle of paper ......tenham: Edward Elgar, 2011. Lipsey, Richard G.. "There will be is there a Canadian-American Free Trade Association? The World Economy 9 (2008): 218-238. McDougall, John N.. Adrift: the political economy of Canadian-American integration Peterborough,. Ontario: Broadview Press, 2006. McKinney, Joseph. “U.S.-Canada Economic Relations, Twenty Years After the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement” British Journal of Canadian Studies 23. 2010): 233-246. Rao, S., P. Sharma and R. Acharya. Canada-United States Trade and Foreign Direct Investment Patterns. Calgary: Calgary University Press, 2003. Thomas, David M. .. Canada and the United States: Differences that Matter. Third ed. Toronto: Broadview Press, 2008. Weintraub, Sidney. What's Next?. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1994. Wise, Carol. “The North American Free Trade Agreement.” New political economy 14 (2009): 133-148.