The Creation of NAFTA NAFTA, or the North American Free Trade Agreement is a trade agreement that was created in 1994. The purpose of this agreement is to provide free trade for the North American countries of Mexico, Canada, and the United States. Its goal is to eliminate all trade barriers and restrictions that exist between these three countries within the next fifteen years. There are three things that are used in order for NAFTA to accomplish its goal of providing free trade. They are a customs union, a common market, and a free trade area. First, a customs union is a type of economic integration