A new report from USDA’s Economic Research Service explores how the U.S. and Mexican corn sectors have changed since the transition to free-trade under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and the extent to which the sectors could change further in the coming decade.
Mexico is the largest foreign market for U.S. corn, and U.S. corn exports to Mexico have been free of tariff and quota restrictions since 2008. The recently signed United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) would continue tariff- and quota-free trade in corn. In the United States and Mexico, corn production has risen, due partly to higher yields. USDA’s long-term agricultural projections suggest that in the coming decade, consumption of Mexican and U.S. grown corn will continue to increase due to expanding livestock production in both countries, even though U.S. production of corn-based ethanol is projected to decline.
Source: Agropages