Overview
The Canadian and U.S. economies are closely linked. Trade between
the two countries reflects increasing economic integration in North
America under the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Total U.S.-Canada trade is
over $1 billion a day. The United States is Canada's largest trading
partner, and Canada is the largest market for U.S. agricultural
exports. Important Canadian agricultural exports include meats,
live animals, bulk grains, oilseeds, and vegetables. Important imports
include fruits and vegetables, wine and beer, and meats.
Features
Increased U.S.
Imports of Fresh Fruit and Vegetables have allowed U.S.
consumers to eat more fruit and vegetables and enjoy year-round
access to various fresh produce. Primary suppliers are the
North American Free Trade Agreement region for fresh vegetables,
the Southern Hemisphere countries for off-season fresh fruit,
and equatorial countries for bananas.
NAFTA at 13: Implementation
Nears Completion evaluates
the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
as implementation of the accord draws to a close. Just a handful
of the agricultural trade restrictions scheduled to be phased
out under NAFTA remain, and these are scheduled for elimination
in 2008. Once NAFTA is fully implemented, the member countries—Canada,
Mexico, and the United States—will need to exercise their
national autonomy, either individually or in concert, to achieve
further integration of their agricultural markets.
Recommended Readings
Canada: A Macroeconomic Study
of the United States’ Most Important Trade Partner reports
that Canada is a large exporter to the United States of critical
raw materials—including natural gas, petroleum, and wood
products—and a substantial importer of finished industrial
and consumer goods. Agricultural trade between the two countries
continues to grow in importance, reflecting trade liberalization
and greater integration of agricultural markets.
Market Integration
of the North American Animal Products Complex examines
the economic integration of the beef, pork, and poultry industries
of Mexico, Canada, and the United States over the past two
decades. Sanitary barriers, which are designed to protect people
and animals from diseases, are among the more significant barriers
to more complete integration of meat and animal markets.
North
American Greenhouse Tomatoes Emerge as a Major Market Force
reviews the rapid growth of the greenhouse tomato industry in North
American and its impact on the field tomato industry. Canada is
the biggest producer, followed by the United States and Mexico.
For the full report, see Greenhouse
Tomatoes Change the Dynamics of the North American Fresh Tomato
Industry.
See all recommended readings...
Recommended Data Products
Production, Supply, and Distribution (PS&D)
contains official USDA data on production, supply, and distribution
of agricultural commodities for the United States and
major importing and exporting countries. The database provides
projections for the coming year and historical data for more
than 200 countries and major crop, livestock, fishery, and forest products.
Foreign Agricultural Trade of the United
States (FATUS) provides U.S. agricultural exports and imports,
volume and value, by country, by commodity, and by calendar year,
fiscal year, and month, for varying periods, such as 1935 to the
present or 1989 to the present. Updated monthly or annually.
WTO Agricultural Trade Policy Commitments Database
contains data on implementation of trade policy commitments by WTO
member countries. Data on domestic support, export subsidies, and
tariffs are organized for comparison across countries. This queriable
database offers various options for viewing and downloading data.
Agricultural Market Access Database
(AMAD) is a publicly available information tool for analyzing WTO
market access issues in agriculture. It contains data and information
on WTO member countries, including tariff schedules, tariff bindings,
applied tariff rates, country notifications to the WTO, import quantities,
and other data useful in tariff analysis.
Recent Research Developments
The North
American Agri-food Market Integration Consortium (NAAMIC)
is the sponsor of a series of annual workshops on the integration
of North America's agri-food sectors. The 2007 workshop,
held June 14-15, focused on three contemporary drivers of market
integration: 1) the diversion of agricultural resources to biofuel
production; 2) the development of cross-border supply chains;
and 3) the current status of the multilateral agricultural trade
negotiations at the World Trade Organization. NAAMIC is a joint
activity involving USDA's Economic Research Service, Agricultural
Marketing Service, and Foreign Agricultural Service; Agriculture
and Agri-Food Canada; the Farm Foundation; the Inter-American
Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA); Mexico's
Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fishing,
and Food (SAGARPA); Texas A&M University's Agricultural
and Food Policy Center; and the University of Guelph. Contact: Steven
Zahniser
Integration of the U.S. and Canadian animal-product markets varies
greatly, according to an article by ERS economists Thomas Vollrath
and Charlie Hallahan in the March 2006 Canadian Journal of
Agricultural Economics. By analyzing monthly and weekly price
data during 1976-2001, Vollrath and Hallahan determined that the
U.S. and Canadian markets for hogs and pork were more closely integrated
than the corresponding markets for steers and beef. By contrast,
the two national markets for whole chicken were found to be segmented,
due presumably to the fact that poultry is a supply-managed sector
in Canada. Contacts: Thomas
Vollrath and Charlie
Hallahan.
Related Briefing Rooms
World Trade Organization
North American Free Trade Agreement
Agricultural Baseline Projections
U.S. Agricultural Trade
Wheat
Related Links
Additional data and information on Canada are available from USDA,
other U.S. government sources, international organizations, and the
Canadian government.
See all related links...
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