The Effect Of NAFTA On Foreign Trade In Mexican Agricultural Products

With the increasingly close economic exchanges and the in-depth development of regional economic cooperation among countries in the world,regional economic integration has become the mainstream consensus of today's world economic development.The North American Free Trade Agreement(NAFTA),as the world's first free trade agreement signed by both developed and developing countries,contains agricultural trade rules.It is a precedent for global economic integration in regional economic integration.Since its formal implementation in 1994,NAFTA has gradually expanded the bilateral trade scales of the United States,Mexico,and Canada through phased tariff concessions and the elimination of non-tariff barriers,and the trade volume has also increased significantly.As the only agriculture-based developing country in the region,the implementation of NAFTA has had an important impact on the foreign trade of Mexican agricultural products.In the context of economic integration,this article uses the agricultural trade rules in NAFTA and the specific arrangement of agricultural trade between Mexico,the United States and Canada.We used a combination of quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis to analyze the changes in the foreign trade of agricultural products after Mexico joined NAFTA,including the total trade volume and the representative trade of Mexico's representative agricultural products,including cereals,fruits and vegetables.Before conducting in-depth research,this paper first used the four major index analysis methods,namely the Display Comparative Advantage Index(RCA),the Trade Competitiveness Index(TC),the Trade Complementarity Index(TCI),and the Trade Bond Index(TCD).Mexico's agricultural products have a competitive advantage in the North American Free Trade Area and trade complementarity and integration between regional trading partners.In terms of quantitative analysis,the collection of large amounts of data from the UN Trade Database elaborated on the impact of NAFTA on the foreign trade of Mexican agricultural products.In terms of empirical analysis,this paper chooses the Balassa model to do the quantitative analysis.Based on the model measurement results,we conclude that Mexico's change in demand elasticity before and after joining NAFTA and the NAFTA's trade creation effect on Mexico are greater than the trade transfer.effect.The welfare level in Mexico has been significantly improved.Secondly,using the market analysis model,we can see that under the continuous improvement of NAFTA,there is still greater trade potential and trade growth space between Mexico and member countries within the region.However,NAFTA has also had some negative effects on the trade of Mexican agricultural products.For example,the deterioration of the domestic agricultural production environment,the unequal distribution of interest among multinational corporations in the monopoly of agricultural products trade,and the serious dependence of grain on imports cause food security and unbalanced agricultural production structures.Therefore,while accelerating the liberalization of agricultural products trade,Mexico should focus on developing its own advantageous industries,attaching importance to national food security,and promoting coordination and healthy development of the agricultural sector.At the same time,Mexico's experience in joining NAFTA has a strong reference value for China,which is also a developing country.China should seriously consider joining vertical free trade organizations and strive for more transitions for industries such as agriculture that do not have competitive advantages.