NAFTA and the United States and Mexico maize belts 1994–2017

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 385-402
Author(s):  
José Osorio-Antonia ◽  
Lila Margarita Bada-Carbajal ◽  
Luis Arturo Rivas-Tovar

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is twofold. First, the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on the agribusinesses of corn production in Mexico is analyzed, taking into special consideration the policy of encouragement to small producers, productive restructuring and identification of positive and negative effects. Second, the evolution of the US–Mexican maize belts (1994–2017) is analyzed, establishing the economic and political impacts with respect to NAFTA.Design/methodology/approachThe paper opted for a documentary meta-analysis study using data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the System of Agricultural and Fishery Information (SIAP) in Mexico. The data were completed with documentary analysis of research on maize productivity.FindingsProvided is the information about the impacts of maize belts in the United States (US) and Mexico, where it was determined that the leading states maintained productive hegemony to a greater and lesser extent and that Mexico experienced a productive reorientation. The findings show that it is a myth that there are losers in the maize agroindustry of Mexico and the United States as it is suggested that after twenty-four years they have become complementary.Research limitations/implicationsSummarized is the state of knowledge from 1994 to 2017, aligned to the databases of the United States and Mexico.Originality/valueA need to study the relation between the productive evolution of maize production and NAFTA is identified.

Author(s):  
Earl H. Fry

This article examines the ebb and flow of the Quebec government’s economic and commercial relations with the United States in the period 1994–2017. The topic demonstrates the impact of three major forces on Quebec’s economic and commercial ties with the US: (1) the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which became operational in 1994 and was fully implemented over a 15-year period; (2) the onerous security policies put in place by the US government in the decade following the horrific events of 11 September 2001; and (3) changing economic circumstances in the United States ranging from robust growth to the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The article also indicates that the Quebec government continues to sponsor a wide range of activities in the United States, often more elaborate and extensive than comparable activities pursued by many nation-states with representation in the US. 1 1 Stéphane Paquin, ‘Quebec-U.S. Relations: The Big Picture’, American Review of Canadian Studies 46, no. 2 (2016): 149–61.


Subject Prospects for Mexico and Central America to end-2017. Significance The economies of Mexico and Central America will maintain a ‘business as usual’ stance until renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) formally starts later in the year. Growth momentum in the region is therefore likely to be maintained for the rest of 2017. Nonetheless, threats to trade and migration links with the United States, and to remittance income, will drive uncertainty.


Author(s):  
John P. McCray

The dramatic growth in trade between the United States and Mexico from $12.39 billion to $56.8 billion of U.S. exports and $17.56 billion to $73 billion of U.S. imports between 1977 and 1996 and the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have focused attention on the impact that the truck-transported portion of this trade has on U.S. highways. State and federal highway administrators are concerned with the planning implications this additional unexpected traffic may have on the transportation infrastructure. Public advocacy groups want additional highway funds to promote one NAFTA highway corridor over others in an effort to stimulate additional economic development. Most of these groups advocate a north-south route through the United States between Canada and Mexico that follows the alignment of an existing federal highway number. Research conducted by the U.S. government under the 1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act has failed to define NAFTA highway corridors adequately, leaving policy makers with little concrete information with which to combat the rhetoric of the trade highway corridor advocacy groups. A report is provided on research critical to the needs of both highway administrators and corridor advocacy groups, namely, the location of U.S.-Mexican trade highway corridors and the trade truck density along these corridors.


Author(s):  
Roderic Ai Camp

Today all would agree that Mexico and the United States have never been closer--that the fates of the two republics are inextricably intertwined. It has become an intimate part of life in almost every community in the United States, through immigration, imported produce, business ties, or illegal drugs. It is less a neighbor than a sibling; no matter what our differences, it is intricately a part of our existence. In the fully updated second edition of Mexico: What Everyone Needs to Know®, Roderic Ai Camp gives readers the most essential information about our sister republic to the south. Camp organizes chapters around major themes--security and violence, economic development, foreign relations, the colonial heritage, and more. He asks questions that take us beyond the headlines: Why does Mexico have so much drug violence? What was the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement? How democratic is Mexico? Who were Benito Juárez and Pancho Villa? What is the PRI (the Institutional Revolutionary Party)? The answers are sometimes surprising. Despite ratification of NAFTA, for example, Mexico has fallen behind Brazil and Chile in economic growth and rates of poverty. Camp explains that lack of labor flexibility, along with low levels of transparency and high levels of corruption, make Mexico less competitive than some other Latin American countries. The drug trade, of course, enhances corruption and feeds on poverty; approximately 450,000 Mexicans now work in this sector. Brisk, clear, and informed, Mexico: What Everyone Needs To Know® offers a valuable primer for anyone interested in the past, present, and future of our neighbor to the South.


Significance The statement is the latest in a string of similar announcements by companies fearful of obstacles to free trade being put in place between Mexico and the United States. Trump has consistently engaged in protectionist, anti-Mexican rhetoric, pressuring US firms to abandon planned investments in Mexico, demanding a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and threatening to impose a 20% border tax or selective tariffs on Mexican exports. Impacts Mexico will see diminished foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2017 due to uncertainty over the future of NAFTA. A moderate-sized hit to Mexican exports could knock around 0.5 percentage points off growth, possibly contributing to a recession. In the medium term, China could take advantage of worsening US-Mexico relations to deepen economic and political ties with Mexico.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-55
Author(s):  
José G. Vargas-Hernández ◽  
Icela Flores Osuna ◽  
Omar Vargas-González

Purpose: Mexico, like other countries, invested in measures to attract foreign direct investment to its territories. It, therefore, signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, a treaty that facilitated Mexico to be the largest direct exporter to the United States. However, in 2018 the agreement was renegotiated and replaced with United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA). This research is carried out to determine the advantages and disadvantages of renegotiation for Sinaloa's agricultural exports, with the question of whether it would negatively impact the Sinaloa's agricultural exports. Methods: The study focuses on the impact of renegotiation of the NAFTA on agricultural exports of the state of Sinaloa with indicators such as the Exports-Trade, GDP, and GDP Per capita of Mexico, opening to new markets, and logistics. Results: The renegotiation has a direct relationship with agricultural production in Sinaloa, with a serious negative effect, since overproduction would be created if the new destination for exporting from Sinaloa was not quickly available. Implications: This research can be of much use to the main agricultural exporting companies in Sinaloa, government agencies, and the Sinaloa Chambers of Commerce for decision making and policy formulation.


Author(s):  
Oleh Bulka

The article is devoted to the particularity of Canada-Mexico bilateral relations in the period from their beginning to signing and entry into force the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). It is noted that from the time of first contacts bilateral relations between two countries have developed unevenly with periods of increase and periods of decline. It is determined that in the history of Canada-Mexico relations before signing NAFTA can be identified four main periods. The first one is a period of early contacts that lasted from the end of XIX century to the establishment of the official diplomatic relations between Canada and Mexico in 1944. In this period of time ties between the two countries were extremely weak. The second period lasted from 1944 to the end of the 1960s. This period clearly shows the limits of cooperation between Canada and Mexico after the establishment of the official diplomatic ties, but it is also possible to see a certain coincidence between the values and diplomatic strategies of these countries. The third period of Canada-Mexico relations lasted from the beginning of the 1970s to the end of the 1980s. During this period, both Canada and Mexico try to diversify their foreign policy and strengthen the organizational mechanism of mutual cooperation. But it is also shown that despite the warm political rhetoric, there was some distance in Canada-Mexico relations. The fourth period of the relations lasted from the late 1980s until the NAFTA treaty came into force in 1994. At that time Canadian and Mexican governments began to give priority to economic relations over political and diplomatic ones. It was revealed that the main influencing factors of bilateral relations between Mexico and Canada were the impact of third countries, especially the United Kingdom and the United States, regional and global economic conditions, and the attitude to the bilateral relations of the political elites of both countries.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document