The second round of negotiations to update NAFTA begin today in Mexico City with the leaders of Canada and the United States hoping for an agreement by the end of the year. Agricultural trade among the three nations more than quadrupled since NAFTA took effect in 1994, helping to add more fresh produce to the U.S. diet, says think tank analyst Joe Glauber.
Those gains could be jeopardized by a proposal from growers in the Southeast that would make it easier to file, and win, antidumping cases against imports from Mexico. “Concessions do not come without some quid quo pro,” writes Glauber, senior reserarch fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute. “Mexico could demand … restrictions on major agricultural imports from the United States.” Or growers in Canada and Mexico could use the new rules against U.S. competitors.
“The ultimate losers of such a policy would be workers and consumers,” said Glauber. “Changes to NAFTA should be focused on achieving more open markets—not more government control.” It would be more fruitful, he said, to remove barriers to dairy, sugar and poultry trade. ” Consumers have been prime beneficiaries of trade liberalization. They should not be sacrificed at the altar of protectionism.”