North American Trade Continues Growth Under New USMCA

WASHINGTON, DC – The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is a new economic and trade agreement that modifies the terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), adding provisions for continued growth in agricultural trade among the three member countries.

Agriculture has a large and growing stake in the free-trade area created by NAFTA.

According to the Economic Research Service (ERS), the total value of intraregional agricultural trade (exports and imports) among all three NAFTA countries reached more than $95 billion last year, compared with $16.6 billion in 1993 – one year before NAFTA’s implementation. Even with inflation, this expansion corresponds to an increase in intraregional agricultural trade of 252 percent.

Under the ratified new agreement, which took effect on July 1, 2020, USMCA adds provisions on biotechnology; geographical indicators; and sanitary and phytosanitary measures, which are measures to protect humans, animals, and plants from diseases, pests, or contaminants and provides broader market opportunities for U.S. exports of dairy, poultry, wheat and egg products to Canada.
(SOURCE: Economic Research Service)