Figure 2--Composition of Mexican Pork Imports, 1994-2002
C. Mexican Hog Prices: From Paradise to Nightmare
In the years immediately preceding NAFTA, hog prices in Mexico were
usually sufficient to compensate for the industry’s high production costs.
Although prices in the United States were substantially lower than prices in
Mexico, trade barriers and transportation costs ensured that the unit value of
imports was comfortably higher than the U.S. price (fig. 3).