Fruit market with various colorful fresh fruits and vegetables
This is the time of the year when many folks get a chance to enjoy a variety of fresh fruit and vegetables that are available throughout the summer from United States growers. During the rest of the year, some of these same fresh fruits and vegetables are available to American consumers, thanks to trade agreements with Canada and Mexico.
In a story from USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, the value and volume of fresh fruits and vegetables from those two countries to the United States has grown in the last five years. In 2015, the United States imported more than 2.8 billion pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables from Canada, valued at $1.4 billion. From Mexico, the United States imported 17.4 billion pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables for $9.1 billion. But on the other hand, United States fruit and vegetable growers also have benefited too. Last year the United States exported nearly 7.1 billion pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables to Canada and Mexico, worth $4.2 billion.
To address potential issues, the North American Free Trade Agreement created a unified system to enable effective trade dispute resolution. The Fruit and Vegetable Dispute Resolution Corporation (DRC) handles these disputes for the fruit and vegetable industry. And since its inception, has successfully resolved thousands of trade disputes worth tens of millions of dollars.
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