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U.S. agricultural exports have been larger than U.S. agricultural imports since 1960, generating a surplus in U.S. agricultural trade. (For more information, see The U.S. Ag Trade Balance...More Than Just A Number, a February 2004 Amber Waves article.) This surplus helps counter the persistent deficit in nonagricultural U.S. merchandise trade (see data table Value of U.S. trade—agricultural, nonagricultural, and total by fiscal or calendar year).
The U.S. agricultural export surplus has narrowed in recent years from its peak in fiscal year 1996, but it has remained above the lows experienced prior to 1973. Growth in import values has slowed since 2006. Export values reached a record high in 2008, but declined rapidly in early 2009.
Even if there were a trade deficit in agricultural products, this does not imply a lack of competitiveness on the part of U.S. agriculture. Rather, it reflects increasing diversity in consumers' food choices and changing relative exchange rates, which make U.S. goods relatively more/less expensive in international markets and import goods relatively less/more expensive.
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