ABSTRACT This article investigates the ability for regional trade agreements (RTAs) to push forward agricultural liberalization. Our study of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) demonstrates that RTAs alone cannot overcome the main problems related to protectionism in the agricultural sector. RTAs can, under certain conditions, increase market access but have a limited capacity to deal with export subsidies and domestic support. Our data shows that NAFTA has improved market access for agricultural products between Canada and the United States, and that internal agricultural trade between the two countries has grown at a faster rate than with the rest of the world. Yet, in the context of the recent United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), many challenges remain.

中文翻译：

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北美自由贸易协定阴影下的加美农产品贸易：自由化、冲突与挑战

摘要 本文研究了区域贸易协定 (RTA) 推动农业自由化的能力。我们对北美自由贸易协定 (NAFTA) 的研究表明，仅靠区域贸易协定无法克服与农业部门保护主义相关的主要问题。在某些条件下，区域贸易协定可以增加市场准入，但处理出口补贴和国内支持的能力有限。我们的数据显示，北美自由贸易协定改善了加拿大和美国之间农产品的市场准入，两国之间的内部农产品贸易增长速度快于世界其他地区。然而，在最近的美国-墨西哥-加拿大协议 (USMCA) 的背景下，仍然存在许多挑战。