ABSTRACT: This index was compiled from the official tariff schedules published by the United States, Mexican, and Canadian governments for the North American Free Trade Agreement. Included are the tariff phase out rates for all agricultural and food products affected by NAFTA, with the supplementary notes as specified by the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) seeks to reduce barriers to trade through comprehensive elimination of tariffs and non-tariff barriers. Over a nine-year period, all agricultural and food product tariffs will be phased out at varying rates among the three countries. The following index of agricultural and food product tariff schedules for the U.S., Mexico and Canada was compiled to provide a quick source of information on each country's phase out timelines and tariff reductions. It can be used as an analytical tool for those importers and exporters attempting to determine the viability of a particular market by the rate of tariff reduction for pertinent products. It can also be used to forecast the advantages of entering a certain area of agriculture or food production by comparing the present and future tariff rates. With the agriculture and food product sector of NAFTA being one of the most lucrative, it is important to be aware of the dynamics of this multinational agreement.

The index is sorted by product code such that one can look at a country, find the product code of interest, and identify the base rate and staging category pertaining to its phase-out.

The tariff phase out varies by product code and country, annotated in the staging category. For some of the products, the accompanying note to the staging category was too extensive to fit in the appropriate column and is therefore included, by country and chapter, in a section at the end of the schedule. These are abbreviated first by chapter and then by note number. For example, Chapter Seven, Note Five is abbreviated "CH7-5". The United States and Canada do not specify the country of origin for products included in their schedules. The Mexican tariff schedule has two columns of staging categories: E.E. U.U., which refers to products from the United States, and Canada, each refers to Canadian products. Section One includes the notes from the United States, Section Two the notes from Mexico, and Section three the notes from Canada.

* TAMRC Staff, Department of Agricultural Economics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.