Overview
Agriculture accounts for roughly 5 percent of Mexico's gross
domestic product, and about one quarter of Mexico's 109 million
people live and work in rural areas. The number of Mexicans active
in agriculture, however, is declining as many rural Mexicans
migrate to cities or other countries. Improved efficiencies and
increased use of capital-intensive production techniques have
increased agricultural output, but Mexican agriculture remains
diverse. While many farmers employ modern techniques, others
use traditional methods. ERS economists are engaged in a wide
range of research about Mexican agriculture. ERS is the primary
agency preparing a Congressionally mandated North American Free
Trade Agreement (NAFTA) report, and it also conducts research
about other Mexico-related subjects, the continuing integration
of North American agriculture, specific agricultural sectors
in Mexico, the impact of increased U.S. ethanol production on
international grain markets, and foreign-born labor in the U.S.
agricultural and food processing sectors.
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
A Revolution
in Food Retailing Underway in the Asia-Pacific Region reports that rapid economic growth and urbanization are
transforming the retail food sector in the developing economies
of the Asia-Pacific region. Expanding modern chain stores are
offering consumers lower prices, greater convenience, and higher
quality and safer food in increasingly complex, often congested,
urban markets. They are also forcing domestic marketing channels
and food producers to adapt and modernize.
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. Updated
monthly. Tables detailing U.S.
agricultural exports to Mexico and U.S.
agricultural imports from Mexico are based on FATUS data.
WTO Agricultural Trade
Policy Commitments Database contains data on implementation
of trade policy commitments by World Trade Organization (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
U.S.-Mexico agricultural trade was the subject of a paper by
ERS economist Steven Zahniser at a conference entitled Doha,
NAFTA, and California Agriculture on January 13, 2006, in
Sacramento, California. The conference, organized by the University
of California's Giannini Foundation, explored the implications
for California agriculture of the WTO negotiations, NAFTA, and
other international developments. Papers from the conference
are available on the conference
website. Contact: Steven
Zahniser
Related Briefing Rooms
North American Free Trade Agreement
Canada
World Trade Organization
U.S. Agricultural Trade
Animal Production and
Marketing Issues
Corn
Related Links
Additional data and information on Mexico are available from USDA,
other U.S. government sources, international organizations, the
Mexican government, universities, and other sources.
See all related links...
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