Mexican Agriculture and NAFTA:
A 20-Year Balance Sheet
Abstract: The structural reforms institutionalized after the debt crisis of early 1980, and the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), forced Mexican agricultural sector to compete with agricultural imports from the United States without any consideration to either the gap in productivity or the large subsidies given to producers under the U. S. Farm Bill, which reduces export prices well below production costs. Mexican producers had to confront the power of a handful of traders who controlled the domestic market and prevented any benefits from coming to small producers or consumers. The effects of NAFTA, consequently, have been several: a deterioration of rural incomes, the prevalence of rural poverty and income concentration, and a continuing threat to food security.