Agricultural Trade Deficit Worsens Alongside Manufacturing Trade Deficit
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) released an alarming new report, “U.S. Faces Record Agricultural Imports, Worst Trade Deficit in History,” revealing that the United States is on track to reach a staggering $39 billion agricultural trade deficit in 2024, the largest in its history. The report highlights the devastating consequences of decades of trade liberalization policies that have failed to deliver promised benefits for the majority of U.S. farmers and agricultural producers, especially smaller family farms. Importantly, the agricultural trade deficit has increased over the same time period that U.S. industrial capacity has significantly declined—a devastating impact covered in detail by CPA’s comprehensive analysis of the China Shock. While lawmakers pushed for increased trade liberalization, both the U.S. agricultural and manufacturing sectors faced significant harm as a result of import penetration, leading to job losses and an increasing reliance on imports for food and industrial goods
“This new CPA economic report is a damning indictment of how decades of free trade policies have hollowed out America’s agricultural sector, benefiting a handful of corporate giants while leaving family farms to bear the brunt of a failed experiment,” said Zach Mottl, Chairman of CPA. “This report not only exposes how these policies have destroyed the U.S.’s position as a net agricultural exporter, but also makes clear that trade liberalization has utterly failed the U.S. agricultural industry in the same way it has failed the U.S. manufacturing sector. Going forward, U.S. trade policy must prioritize the prosperity of all American producers—not just a select few special interest crops dominated by large multinational companies.”
CPA’s new economic report on the U.S. agricultural sector uncovers alarming trends, including all-time record imports and sharp declines in trade balances for key sectors such as meat, seafood, fruits, and vegetables. Notably, the U.S. agricultural trade deficit with Mexico has ballooned to $17.2 billion, while the deficit with Canada has reached $11.5 billion.
Key Findings from the Report:
- The U.S. agricultural trade deficit is on pace to hit $39 billion in 2024.
- Meat and seafood face a $19.5 billion trade deficit; fruits and vegetables face deficits of $12 billion and $4.8 billion, respectively, an alarming trend given that the U.S. was a net exporter of these products in the 1970s.
- Mexico accounts for a $17.2 billion agricultural trade deficit, with Canada close behind at $11.5 billion.
- Grain and oilseed exports—dominated by soybeans, corn, and wheat—generate 95% of the trade surplus, but export growth has stagnated.
Highest Agricultural Trade Deficits with Mexico and Canada
The CPA economic report underscores the role of U.S. trade agreements, including NAFTA and the USMCA, in exacerbating the agricultural trade deficit. Mexico and Canada alone account for over $28 billion of the total deficit, with Mexico responsible for the largest share.
“The surge in agricultural imports from Mexico and Canada has flooded U.S. markets with low-priced goods, displacing American farmers and undercutting their ability to compete,” said Andrew Rechenberg, CPA’s Economist and lead author of the report. “These deficits are not just numbers—they represent lost jobs, shuttered family farms, and diminished economic security for rural communities. Contrary to the claims by many lawmakers that support free trade and oppose policies like tariffs, the data outlined in our report is clear: free trade policies and pursuing export opportunities have come at a devastating price to both the U.S. agricultural and manufacturing sector.”
U.S. Trade Policy Benefits Few, Harms Many
The report highlights that the U.S.’s agricultural trade surplus is propped up almost entirely by three products—soybeans, corn, and wheat—produced primarily by large-scale corporate farms. Together, these commodities account for 95% of the trade surplus, with soybeans alone generating a $22.7 billion surplus. Despite their positive trade balance, even some of these sectors have seen stagnant or declining export volume levels over the past two decades, undermining the narrative that trade liberalization has expanded market opportunities in absolute terms.
“The numbers speak for themselves: trade liberalization has failed even our largest export sectors, while devastating smaller, domestically focused producers,” Rechenberg added. “The U.S. used to have a surplus in fruits and vegetables, but today we face a $12 billion deficit in fruits and a $4.8 billion deficit in vegetables. This shift is a direct result of policies that prioritized granting foreign producers access to the U.S. market over policies to strengthen our own farmers.”
U.S. Has Trade Deficit Across All Fruit and Vegetable Products
The U.S. faces significant and growing trade deficits in fruits and vegetables that were once widely produced domestically. Key fruit deficits include apples (91,000 tons), blueberries (282,000 tons), strawberries (418,000 tons), and watermelons (858,000 tons), with deficits for blueberries and strawberries increasing by nearly 200% and 59%, respectively, since 2014.
The situation is even worse for vegetables, where the U.S. has deficits in all major categories, including cucumbers (1.7 million tons), onions (834,000 tons), and tomatoes (1.9 million tons). The tomato trade deficit has risen 43% since 2014, despite the 2019 Tomato Suspension Agreement with Mexico, which has failed to curb surging imports. This highlights the ineffectiveness of negotiated agreements and underscores the need for hard quotas and tariffs to protect U.S. producers.
A Call for a New Direction in Trade Policy
“U.S. trade policy has prioritized granting foreign producers unfettered access to American markets under the misguided belief that it would benefit domestic farmers,” Mottl concluded. “Instead, it has devastated most agricultural sectors, undermined food security, and left American producers unable to compete. The Trump administration and Congress must implement a trade policy that supports American producers and rebuilds our agricultural independence.”
The full report, “U.S. Faces Record Agricultural Imports, Worst Trade Deficit in History,” is available here.
# # #
