Regional Trade Agreements and U.S. Agriculture: An Overview

by Mary E. Burfisher and Elizabeth A. Jones

Please also see Regional Trade Agreements and U.S. Agriculture. This report summarizes the implications of regionalism for the United States, focusing on the effects of major RTA's on U.S. agriculture. Regional trade agreements (RTA's) have become a fixture in the global trade arena. Their advocates contend that RTA's can serve as building blocks for multilateral trade liberalization. Their opponents argue that these trade pacts will divert trade from more efficient nonmember producing countries. U.S. agriculture can benefit from participating in RTA's and may lose when it does not. Agriculture is the source of most potential U.S. gains from RTA's.

Keywords: regional trade agreements, trade liberalization, Uruguay Round, GATT

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