Given the current limitations in the export of avocado to the United States (U.S.), derived from the dispute on the presence of seed pests, the avocado trunk and branch weevil and fruit flies, all of quarantine importance, in Mexican avocado orchards; the main objective of this research was to quantify the impacts, on the welfare of both Mexico and the US, associated to the application of different degrees of technical and phytosanitary barriers in the trade of avocado between these two countries. We estimated supply, demand, and import functions for avocado to the U.S. in order to obtain price elasticities of each one of these functions. Based on these results we estimated a partial equilibrium model to analyze the impacts of a higher open avocado trade between Mexico and the U.S. on welfare, commercial fluxes, and prices. Results showed that a total reduction of barriers and tariffs would increase the welfare for both the U.S. and Mexico.

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