Overview
U.S. and global trade are greatly affected by the growth and stability
of world markets. Changes in world population, economic growth,
and income are most likely to alter global food demand. Other
factors affecting trade are global supplies and prices,
changes in exchange rates, government support of agriculture,
and trade protection policies.
With the productivity of U.S. agriculture growing faster than
domestic food and fiber demand, U.S. farmers and agricultural firms
rely heavily on export markets to sustain prices and revenues.
Exports have exceeded imports by a large margin since 1973. Historically, U.S. imports have
increased steadily, as demand for diversification in food expands.
U.S. consumers benefit from imports because imports expand food
variety, stabilize year-round supplies of fresh fruits and vegetables,
and temper increases in food prices.
Features
Latest U.S.
Agricultural Trade Data presents USDA's
summary of calendar year, fiscal
year, year-to-date, and current monthly value of U.S.
agricultural exports, imports, and trade balance. U.S.
Agricultural Trade Data Update provides detailed
monthly updates on the quantity and value of U.S. farm
export and import shipments. Previous issues
of U.S.
Agricultural Trade Update, which ceased publication
in February 2007, provide additional historical analysis.
Outlook
for U.S. Agricultural Trade summarizes USDA's most
recent 1-year projections for U.S. agricultural trade
value and volume, as well as projections of selected
countries' total trade with the United States.
Recommended Readings
U.S. Trade Growth: A New Beginning or a Repeat of the Past? (September 2007) evaluates how global economic growth patterns and domestic macroeconomic conditions have influenced recent trends in U.S. agricultural trade. Emerging market growth, a weaker dollar, and the potential for slower domestic consumption growth suggest a continuation of robust export growth and moderating demand for imports. For the full report, see Global Growth, Macroeconomic Change, and U.S. Agricultural Trade (September 2007).
USDA Agricultural
Baseline Projections (annually in February) provides longrun
(10-year) projections for the agricultural sector.
Projections cover agricultural commodities, agricultural
trade, and aggregate indicators of the sector, such
as farm income and food prices.
Supplementary Periodic Trade
Articles associated with the U.S. Agricultural
Trade Update series summarize U.S. agricultural trade
and cover topics such as:
See all recommended readings...
Recommended Data Products
Foreign Agricultural Trade of the United States
(FATUS) provides U.S. agricultural exports and imports, volume
and value, by country, by commodity, and by calendar year, fiscal
year, and month, for varying periods, such as 1935 to the present
or 1989 to the present. Updated monthly or annually.
State Export Data provides
annual ERS estimates of U.S. exports by State and commodity group
based
on each State's share of U.S. agricultural productionby State
production data from the National Agricultural Statistics Serviceand
national-level U.S. export data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Commodity and Food Elasticities Database allows queriable searches of income, expenditure, and own- and cross-price elasticities for specific commodities and countries, which can be ranked and sorted. The elasticities are mainly from U.S. research on consumer demand published in working papers, dissertations, and peer-reviewed journals. The greatest number of demand studies are for vegetables, fruits, meat, and grocery products in the United States and China.
Production, Supply, and Distribution
(PS&D) contains official USDA data on production, supply, and
distribution of agricultural commodities for the United States and
major importing and exporting countries. The database provides projections
for the coming year and historical data for more than 200 countries
and major crop, livestock, fishery, and forest products.
Agricultural Market Access Database
(AMAD) provides data and information on WTO member countries
regarding tariff schedules, tariff bindings, applied tariff rates,
import quantities, notifications to the WTO on countries' commitments,
and other data useful in analyzing market access issues in agriculture.
The ERS Agricultural Exchange Rate
Data Set contains annual and monthly data for exchange rates
important to U.S. agriculture. It includes both nominal and real
exchange rates for 80 countries (plus the EU) as well as real trade-weighted
exchange rate indexes for many commodities and aggregations.
Questions and Answers
Frequently asked questions and answers
about the type of trade data ERS provides for other countries of
the world and where data on world trade and bilateral country commodity
trade data can be obtained.
Related Links
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations offers global agricultural trade by country in its FAOSTAT database.
U.S. International Trade Commission provides information on U.S. tariffs and U.S. trade data by HTS code, Customs District, and month via the agency's Interactive Tariff and Trade DataWeb.
U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau provides a description of total U.S. trade and export classification under Foreign Trade Statistics.
See all related links...
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