According to data from the US Department of Agriculture, in 2016 Mexico managed to position itself as the main supplier of agricultural products for the US, surpassing Canada and the European Union.
According to information from the federal agency, Mexico closed 2016 with a 19.9% share of the US agricultural market, while Canada had 19% and the European Union had 18%.
Mexican agricultural products in the United States began gaining importance after the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was implemented.
Jorge Armando Narvaez, undersecretary of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (Sagarpa), recently participated in the Mexico Food Show 2016 event and said that, over time, NAFTA had been instrumental in the development of the agricultural sectors of Mexico, the United States, and Canada.
Currently, Mexico ranks as the twelfth biggest producer of food in the world; its main export products include avocados and tomatoes, among others, Sagarpa stated.
Jose Calzada, head of SAGARPA, said agricultural exports during 2015 had amounted to 26,700 million dollars, surpassing for the first time the amount of foreign currency that Mexico receives from items such as oil, tourism, and remittances.
In turn, according to data from the United States Department of Agriculture, Mexico has been successful because it has taken advantage of the lack of dynamism that its competitors have had regarding agricultural products in recent years.
In early 2000, the situation was different,Canada and the European Union had 24.9% and 23.1% of the American agricultural market share, respectively, while Mexico's share was only approaching 13%. Over the years, Canada and the EU started to lag behind and Mexico took the opportunity to take the lead.
Source: Millenio