President Bill Clinton addresses the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington on Nov. 1, 1993. Clinton prodded corporate America to do more to build congressional support for the North America Free Trade Agreement, saying Europe and Japan will be the big winners if the pact fails.
President Bill Clinton addresses the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington on Nov. 1, 1993. Clinton prodded corporate America to do more to build congressional support for the North America Free Trade Agreement, saying Europe and Japan will be the big winners if the pact fails. Credit: AP

In a tweet on April 27, Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake said, “Before NAFTA, trade between the U.S. and Mexico was around $50 billion. Now it stands at more than $500 billion.”

Our ruling

Flake tweeted, “Before NAFTA, trade between the US and Mexico was around $50 billion. Now it stands at more than $500 billion.”

Flake is close on the numbers. NAFTA went into effect in 1994. The year before that, trade between the United States and Mexico was about $81.5 billion, according to Census figures. Flake’s office said he looked at other years, 1988 and 1989, in which trade was closer to $50 billion. Data for 2016 show about $525 billion in trade between the two countries.

Economists and trade experts told us that NAFTA has played an important role in trade growth, but several other factors must also be taken into consideration.

With those caveats, we rate this claim Mostly True.

To read the full fact check, go to politifact.com.