For US farmers, the aggressive stance taken by President Donald Trump since assuming office on the US trading relationship with Mexico will be extremely worrying. Mexico is the third largest market for US agricultural exports, with some sectors of US farming particularly reliant on trade with Mexico.

In 2015, US agricultural exports to Mexico stood at just under $18bn, a value that has risen fivefold since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed in the early 1990s. The NAFTA deal saw trade in agricultural goods between the US and Mexico flourish, with US grain and livestock farmers doing particularly well out of it.

Mexico is the most important export market for US corn ($2.3bn), dairy ($1.3bn) and pork ($1.3bn), while it is the second most important market for soya beans ($1.4bn) and wheat ($650m). It also accounts for $1.1bn in US beef exports.

However, President Trump has already threatened to unravel the NAFTA deal and has mooted the possibility of new import tariffs on Mexican goods. Added to this, the president appears committed to his border wall project with Mexico which will also curtail trade.

While Trump’s primary intention is to protect domestic manufacturing jobs and industry, his new direction in trade relations could see US agriculture suffer the consequences given its reliance on Mexico as a trading partner. Major US agribusinesses such as Cargill, Archer Daniel Midlands (ADM), JBS USA and Tyson Foods are some of the largest exporters to Mexico.