Re: US Food Imports Vs. Exports

Richard L. Bowen (rbowen@hawaii.edu)
Wed, 6 May 1998 13:27:58 -1000

The U.S. agricultural trade balance (exports minus imports) is positive and
has been trending upwards in last 5 years. The 1997 trade report is:

Summary--Calendar 1997 U.S. agricultural exports equalled $57
billion, a 5-percent drop from the $60 billion exported in 1996.
December 1997 exports were $5.2 billion, just under November 1997
and December 1996. Strong imports of $3.3 billion in December
pushed calendar 1997 imports up 8 percent from 1996 to $36.2
billion. The U.S. export surplus continued to slide and equalled
$21 billion for the calendar year, a 22-percent drop from 1996.

You can find this at the ERS website:

http://www.agnic.org/agdb/

then click on the following:

- USDA Economics and Statistics Reports
- ERS Situation and Outlook Reports
- U.S. Agriculural Trade
- Monthly Trade Reports
- 1998
- ag trade update 2-27-98

the February 98 report give the 1997 calendar trade statistics. Or you can
go to the database and download trade data.

Dick Bowen
University of Hawaii

>Dear friends -
>
>Can anyone confirm or deny a report I heard that in 1997 the U.S. imported
>more food than we exported?
>
>I asked Senator Leahy's office, the best they could do on short notice was fax
>me a table from the USDA for 1995, I couldn't make heads or tails out of it.
>
>Thanks in advance,
>Betty Gras
>petersfarm@aol.com
>
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********************************************************************************
Dr. Richard L. Bowen
Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics
University of Hawaii
Gilmore Hall
Honolulu, HI 96822
808-956-6755
808-956-2807 fax
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