The United States
Once Canada and Mexico each agreed to negotiate free trade, the United States began pressing its demands for content in the agreements that was consistent with what US business leaders wanted. In the end, private sector representatives were very pleased with the results of the negotiations. When NAFTA turned into a highly contentious issue, in 1992 and 1993, major American business associations and even individual firms campaigned hard for the agreement's ratification by Congress. That ratification was still not a sure thing, however, and Democratic president Bill Clinton needed to make NAFTA possible by advocating its ratification and supplementing it with side-agreements on labor and the environment. Clinton’s compromise position and the advocacy of business helped win over just enough critics to get NAFTA through, including in the face of substantial public skepticism.