The Panama Canal in Transition: Implications for U.S. Agriculture

As part of the Panama Canal Treaties of 1977, the United States turned over to the Government of the Republic of Panama on Dec. 31, 1999, its control of the Panama Canal, which it financed, built, and maintained. U.S. agricultural shipments are cargoes important to the canal. In 1998, they made up more than one-fifth of the canal cargo volume, more than two-thirds of all agricultural shipments, and more than half of the U.S. cargo volume transported through the canal. The canal is also important to U.S. producers of corn and soybeans in that it gives them an efficient and effective transport route to foreign markets. Without the canal, it is estimated that U.S. exports of corn and soybeans could be 2 percent lower, which would lower producer revenues by $303.6 million. This report addresses how the Panama Canal transition to Panamanian control will affect U.S. agriculture.