Export Success Story Hides in Original NAFTA Agreement

WASHINGTON, DC – The United States is the world’s second-largest agricultural trader after the European Union. U.S. agricultural exports have grown significantly over the last quarter-century, from $46.1 billion in 1994 to $136.7 billion in 2019.

The elimination of agricultural trade barriers as a result of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) nearly quadrupled exports (by value) to Canada and Mexico. Coinciding with policy developments, rising household incomes, and changing trade policies in developing East and Southeast Asia have driven export growth, especially for China, whose share of U.S. agricultural exports more than quadrupled from 3 percent during the 1990s to 14 percent during the 2010s.

Meanwhile, there has been a sharp decline in the share going to Europe and high-income East Asia, particularly Japan.
(SOURCE: Economic Research Service)