AGRICULTURAL TRADE LIBERALIZATION UNDER NAFTA: REPORTING ON THE REPORT CARD

Fairchild and Aubin

Table 10: Benefit to Horticultural Sub-sector of Own Country from
NAFTA--Percent Response for Each Report Card by Country
and Total.

Source: Compiled from response data.

spondents believing there to have been a small gain increased from 35 to 44
percent between the two surveys. In the first report card, twenty-five percent of
U.S. participants felt there had been either a small or large loss in horticulture
compared to 37 percent in the second report card. Interestingly, even after the
workshop, nearly 20 percent of U.S. representatives still did not have an opin-
ion on the impact of NAFTA on the horticultural sub-sector. One possible
explanation may be that some horticultural commodities have experienced gains
while others have experienced losses. Other possible explanations include a
lower level of knowledge concerning horticultural crops among workshop par-
ticipants.

Having inquired about the impact of NAFTA on the general agricul-
ture sector and a series of specific commodity sub-sectors, the report cards next
addressed a series of NAFTA-related issues including fair competition, trade-
distorting subsidies, market access, bilateral trade disputes, and further eco-
nomic integration in the Western hemisphere. The responses to the questions
on these subjects in the before and after report cards are discussed below.

Impact on Fair Competition in Agriculture

Workshop participants were asked about the extent to which they agreed
or disagreed that NAFTA had promoted conditions of fair trade in agriculture.
For the all-country average, one-third of the workshop participants strongly
agreed that the playing field had been leveled and about 60 percent slightly
agreed with this premise. On an individual-country basis, from 90 to 100 per-

<<   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   >>

More intriguing information