An 80,000 page “free trade” agreement is 80,000 pages of exceptions to free trade and set-asides for the politically connected.
Indeed. I had a chance to look over the NAFTA proposal that encompassed two thick books. Mind-numbing detail, but it didn't look too bad - until you got to the "Addenda", where just about everything that was pro-U.S. was modified out of existence.
Two of 'em that I remember was that Mexico could export any internal combustion engine to us (think auto manufacturing), but they only allowed importation of engines no larger than those on lawnmowers. The other was that their HazMat truck drivers to the U.S. had 10 years to comply with our regs, whereas ours had to meet the requirements NOW.
One pro-U.S. result was that after passage, Cargill, Tyson, et al could set up factories in Mexico, which wiped out the small corn and chicken farmers, who fled to Mexico City - and then the U.S. for jobs.