Analyzing the Agricultural Trade Impacts of the Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement

In this paper we study the agricultural trade impacts of the Canada Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA). We find that the effect of the CCFTA on Chilean agricultural exports to Canada is large and positive. We estimate that approximately one-half of a 90 percent increase in Chilean exports to Canada can be attributed to trade preferences that the country received under the agreement. We found no effect of the agreement on Canadian exports to Chile. As far as we know, our paper is among the few that carries out a detailed empirical analysis of \ the effect of the FTA on agriculture. Most empirical papers that have studied the trade impact of FTAs rely on country-wide gravity models and aggregate trade data. These aggregate analyses can hide negative effects of FTAs on some sectors (like agriculture) where a country may have a comparative disadvantage. Our approach is industry-focused and differs from the mainstream literature analyzing FTAs.