Earl H. Fry (Brigham Young University) -The North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA) has joined together Canada, Mexico, and the United States with a combined population of 475 million people and an annual GDP of 20 trillion dollars. Canada has also recently signed a free trade accord with the European Union (EU) consisting of 28 nations and 506 million people, and producing 18.5 trillion dollars in annual GDP. Mexico has had a free trade arrangement with the EU since 2000, and the United States is in negotiations with the EU to finalize a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

This paper will examine the prospects for greater economic integration within North America and the eventual creation of a transatlantic trade and investment partnership between the EU and NAFTA countries. What will be the political and economic challenges facing greater North American and transatlantic integration efforts and what might be the eventual costs and benefits? Specifically, how would Canada be affected by closer continental and transatlantic economic integration?

Earl H. Fry is Professor of Political Science and Endowed Professor of Canadian Studies at Brigham Young University. He is a former President of the Association for Canadian Studies in the United States (ACSUS) and former Special Assistant in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States. While at USTR, he took part in negotiations which would eventually result in the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. He has written extensively on Canada-U.S. and Mexico-U.S. economic relations and has recently made numerous presentations in EU countries on the costs and benefits of the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Lexington Books has just published his volume Revitalizing Governance, Restoring Prosperity, and Restructuring Foreign Affairs: The Pathway to Renaissance America.

Refreshments will be available from 5:30, presentation will start at 6pm. Attendance is free of charge but registration is required.