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Mar. 2, 2026 by Margy Eckelkamp, Farm Journal USDA now projects the U.S. agricultural trade deficit will narrow to $29B in FY2026, down from about $50B a year ago. Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Luke Lindberg says the trade team isn't done yet. "Our goal is to get back to surplus, but going from $50 billion (forecasted) to $29 billion in one year shows tremendous progress, 43% down over this time last year, and we're continuing to make good progress on seeing that drop even further," Lindberg says. Exports rising Three areas with notable increases in exports by year-end of 2025 include: *Dairy exports up 15% *Ethanol exports up 11% *Corn exports up 29% Simply put, the U.S. ag trade balance is export value minus import value. Lindberg says the export side of the equation is where his team can make the most impact. "We've seen great opportunities as our producers can take new advantage of some of these trade deals the president has put in place. So, the stat that I love to say right now is over half the world's population and over half the world's GDP have come to some kind of a trade agreement with the president in his first year in office. That's a lot of mouths to feed and a lot of dollars that can be buying U.S. products." In recent decades, the U.S. maintained a positive trade balance up until 2020 when the surpluses were much smaller or became deficits. How USDA says it will push exports To build back trade, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins' team is sticking to a three-point plan: 1. Get better trade agreements. 2. Build willing buyer and willing seller relationships. 3. Hold trading partners accountable. "Our team and our friends over at the U.S. Trade Representative's Office have done a tremendous job opening up market access with our dealmaker-in-chief, President Donald J. Trump. Our team at USDA plays an outsized role in getting our farmers and ranchers out there to sell their products. I refer to it as building buyer-seller relationships. And so we're aggressively approaching that this year, with getting our farmers and ranchers and our agribusinesses on the ground in these countries where they have market access today that they didn't have yesterday," he says. To read the entire article click here. Tweet |
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