In 1993, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was passed.
Included was a gradual removal of tariffs on various goods traded between
Mexico, Canada and the United States. The first implementation of these
tariff removals began on January 1, 1994. According to the U.S. information
service, "Under the NAFTA, all non tariff barriers to agricultural trade
between the United States and Mexico were eliminated. In addition, many
tariffs were eliminated immediately, with others to be phased out,
resulting in full implementation of all agricultural provisions by the year
2008." (Economic Perspectives, June 1996)
It may be worth noting, in the aftermath of the recent outbreak of
mad cow disease in a northwestern United States dairy herd that among the
tariffs removed, making trade easier and more profitable for Canada, were
restrictions and tariffs on agricultural products, including cattle. The
infected cow was traced to a dairy cow producer in Canada. Since 1989, a
U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement had been in effect; all the provisions
incorporated in that, including tariffs, had been incorporated into NAFTA
all tariff affecting agricultural trade between those two signatories to
NAFTA had been removed by January 1, 1998. (Economic Perspectives, June
A similar process was instituted, under NAFTA, regarding Mexico. All
non tariff measures affecting agricultural trade between the U.S. and Mexico
were eliminated in that first round, on January 1, 1994. Tariffs were to
be eliminated in phases, with some tariff removed almost immediately. On
January 1, 1996, the third round of tariff cuts with Mexico went into
effect. Duty-free U.S. access increased 3 percent under Mexico's tariff-
rate quotas covering corn, dried beans, poultry, barley, animal fats, eggs,
and potatoes. (Economic Perspectives, June 1996)
USAID noted that both Mexico and the U.S. have...