With new U.S. tariffs on Canada and Mexico now in effect, what are the potential impacts on trade among those countries and across the Western Hemisphere?
In a previous post, we examined how the tariffs could potentially impact countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) based on current agricultural trade patterns between the United States and its neighbors in the hemisphere. Here, we extend that analysis, examining how tariffs on imports to the U.S. from Canada and Mexico could affect intra-regional trade between the three countries and across Central and South America and the Caribbean.
Focusing on agrifood trade, this post summarizes recent model-based analysis to be published in more detail in a forthcoming report. It considers two scenarios. The first is based on the U.S. 25% additional tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico (energy resources from Canada have a lower 10% tariff), that took effect March 4. The second scenario considers the impacts if Mexico and Canada retaliate against those measures with across-the-board increases in tariffs on U.S. imports.