NAFTA AGRICULTURE FACT SHEET:
Barley and Malt

TREATMENT OF TARIFFS:

• Upon enactment of the NAFTA on January 1, 1994, the United States eliminated the tariffs on barley and malt from Mexico. These tariffs ranged from 0.23 to 0.34 cent per kilogram for barley and 0.66 cent per kilogram for malt.

TREATMENT OF QUANTITATIVE RESTRICTIONS:

• When the NAFTA went into effect, Mexico converted its import licensing regime for barley and malt imported from the United States (and Canada) to a transitional tariff-rate quota (TRQ). The TRQ will be in effect for 10 years.
• For U.S. product, the initial duty-free quota into the Mexican market was 120,000 metric tons of barley and malt, expressed in barley equivalents. For aggregation purposes, 700 kilograms of malt equals one metric ton of barley. This 120,000-metric-ton amount grows at a 5-percent annual compounded rate over the 10-year transition period. The 1998 quota for barley and malt is 145,861 metric tons.
• U.S. barley and malt exports to Mexico in excess of the quota are assessed a tariff (based on the "tariffication" of Mexico's import licenses) initially equal to $155 per metric ton, but not less than 128 percent, for barley; and $212 per metric ton, but not less than 175 percent, for malt. Over the first 6 years of the agreement, an aggregate 24 percent of this over-quota tariff is being eliminated, with the remainder to be phased out over the rest of the 10-year transition period. For 1998, the over-quota tariff for barley is $124 per metric ton, but not less than 102.4 percent, and for malt, $170 per metric ton, but not less than 140 percent.
• The NAFTA established a separate aggregate TRQ for Mexico's barley and malt imports from Canada. Canada had an initial quota of 30,000 metric tons of barley and malt. The growth rate, the over- quota tariff, and the over-quota tariff phase-out are the same as those for the United States.

U.S. Barley Trade with Mexico

Value in $1,000; volume in metric tons. U.S. imports from Mexico are zero or very small.

U.S. Malt Trade with Mexico

Value in $1,000; volume in metric tons. U.S. imports from Mexico are zero or very small.

Last modified: Friday, November 18, 2005