A new study reveals NAFTA's human cost extends beyond economic disruption to public health. MIT and University of Chicago researchers found American factory workers in communities exposed to Mexican imports saw life expectancy decline after the 1994 trade deal took effect. About 3% of 45-year-old men lost a year of remaining life expectancy during NAFTA's first 15 years.

The trade agreement accelerated manufacturing decline in the Southeast and Midwest, with mortality rising across most causes including illness, drug overdoses and suicides. These findings outweigh prior estimates of NAFTA's nationwide benefits, highlighting an "underappreciated cost of globalization" that affected working-age men disproportionately.

As the Trump administration prepares for another NAFTA review under the renamed USMCA, the study complicates trade policy debates. While researcher Matthew Notowidigdo doesn't advocate reverting to pre-NAFTA policies, the research underscores that trade agreements carry significant human costs that economic models often fail to capture.