The Research On The NAFTA Trade Policy For Agricultural Products

Since the entry of China into WTO, the correlation between Chinese agriculture and the world economic has been increased and the impact of international agricultural product trade on Chinese agriculture has been strengthened constantly. Nowadays, although all the negotiations relevant to agriculture have taken greater advances, the new round of multilateral negotiations on agriculture in WTO still advances slowly. The Framework Agreement, reached in August, 2004, further enhances the free trade reform for agricultural products and confirms such aspects as canceling all types of export subsidy, eliminating domestic support leading to trade distortion to a larger extent, reducing tariffs to a greater degree and expanding the access to agricultural product markets. Meanwhile, the trend of regional integration, closely related to trade negotiations in WTO, is developing rapidly, and the negotiations on free trade areas at different levels are turning out to be on the increase. Throughout the whole world, the number of the integrative organizations, recorded in WTO, has amounted to more than 100 up to now. Among these organizations, EU (European Union), NAFTA (North American Free Trade Area) and APEC (Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation Organization), have respective characteristics in practice.Referring to the more and more important part that U.S.A, Canada and Mexico are playing in the foreign trade of China and to the greater importance of agricultural product trade in the current international trade, this thesis chooses the trade policy for agricultural products in NAFTA as the subject for research to draw lessons, to obtain successful experience and to promote the sustainable development of agriculture and agricultural economy in China.This thesis falls into five chapters, whose basic contents are as follows:Chapter One emphatically introduces such influential theories as Customs Union and Single Market, by reviewing the theories for regional economic integration.Chapter Two presents the cause of the formation for NAFTA and the maincontents of the trade policy for agricultural products in NAFTA. First, this chapterintroduces the external pressure and internal cause of the formation for NAFTA. Second, this chapter emphasizes the relevant stipulations of the trade policy for agricultural products in such aspects as bilateral commitment, domestic support and export subsidy etc. among U.S.A, Canada and Mexico.Chapter Three theoretically analyzes the effect that has been produced by implementing the trade policy for agricultural products in the past ten years. First, this chapter simply describes the pro status of the agriculture and agricultural product trade among U.S.A, Canada and Mexico. From the angle of the trade of U.S.A, this chapter respectively analyzes the effect of the agricultural product trade between U.S.A and Mexico, and that of the agricultural product trade between U.S.A and Canada.Chapter Four analyzes the economic effect of the trade policy for agricultural products in NAFTA in a empirical way. On the one hand, this chapter gives the empirical analysis of the impacts on the economic relationship among the three countries by implementing the trade policy in NAFTA. On the other hand, this chapter presents the empirical analysis of the economic effect on the trade policy for agricultural products among U.S.A, Canada and Mexico, by using such indices as the proportion of agricultural employment population and the contribution rate of the imports and exports for agricultural products to GDP.Chapter Five analyzes the impacts on China produced by implementing the trade policy for agricultural products, and presents some suggestions for the agricultural product trade in China from the angle of policies.