George H. W. Bush

==== NAFTA ====
{{Main|North American Free Trade Agreement}}
[[File:President Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Mexican President Carlos Salinas participate in the... - NARA - 186460.jpg|thumb|From left to right: (standing) President [[Carlos Salinas]], President Bush, Prime Minister [[Brian Mulroney]]; (seated) [[Jaime Serra Puche]], [[Carla Hills]], and [[Michael Wilson (Canadian politician)|Michael Wilson]] at the NAFTA Initialing Ceremony, October 1992]]

In 1987, the U.S. and Canada reached a [[free trade agreement]] that eliminated many tariffs between the two countries. President Reagan had intended it as the first step towards a larger trade agreement to eliminate most tariffs among the United States, Canada, and Mexico.{{sfn|Wilentz|2008|pp=313–314}} The Bush administration, along with the [[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|Progressive Conservative]] Canadian prime minister [[Brian Mulroney]], spearheaded the negotiations of the [[North American Free Trade Agreement]] (NAFTA) with Mexico. In addition to lowering tariffs, the proposed treaty would affect patents, copyrights, and trademarks.<ref name="fedex">{{cite web|url=http://www.fedex.com/us/customersupport/ftn/faq/nafta.html?link=4 |publisher=Federal Express|title=Frequently Asked Questions: NAFTA|access-date=April 11, 2008}}</ref> In 1991, Bush sought [[fast track authority]], which grants the president the power to submit an international trade agreement to Congress without the possibility of amendment. Despite congressional opposition led by House Majority Leader [[Dick Gephardt]], both houses of Congress voted to grant Bush fast track authority. NAFTA was signed in December 1992, after Bush lost reelection,{{sfn|Greene|2015|pp=222–223}} but President Clinton won ratification of NAFTA in 1993.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.law.duke.edu/lib/researchguides/nafta.html|title=NAFTA|publisher=Duke University|access-date=July 30, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080420094150/http://www.law.duke.edu/lib/researchguides/nafta.html |archive-date=April 20, 2008}}</ref> NAFTA was controversial for its impact on wages, jobs, and overall economic growth.<ref name="jzarroli">{{cite news|last1=Zarroli|first1=Jim|title=NAFTA Turns 20, To Mixed Reviews|url=https://www.npr.org/2013/12/08/249570005/nafta-turns-20-to-mixed-reviews|access-date=August 24, 2016|publisher=NPR|date=December 8, 2013}}</ref> In 2020, it was replaced entirely by the [[United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement]] (USMCA).