This five-page undergraduate paper examines free trade and the trading relationship between the United States and Canada. The author questions whether free trade theories can be effectively translated into free trade practices, and notes that despite some success, the North American Free Trade Agreement provides numerous evidence that theory and practice do not always coincide, for NAFTA is essentially a business contract, in which certain rights are guaranteed, at least in theory. In reality, however, trade relationships between nations are invariably complex.
