Exports Vs Imports

From the Ag Information Network, this is today’s Fruit Grower Report. Agricultural imports overtook ag exports a couple of years ago, creating a first of its kind trade imbalance.

Sam Kieffer, Vice President of Public Policy at the American Farm Bureau Federation, says it’s all a numbers game and right now, it’s not ideal …

KIEFFER … “The good news is the volume of our agricultural exports hasn’t really changed a whole lot. What has changed is the value of those exports.”

And what that means, Kieffer says is that it has more to do with prices than anything else …

KIEFFER … “When commodity prices fall, that’s when we significantly saw the bifurcation of imports versus exports when it comes to value.”

And obviously, Kieffer says there are a few other factors that have come into play with the new administration …

KIEFFER … “Certainly, with the administration and the ongoing discussions about tariffs, the question is, how will that be implemented? Will it be a scalpel or will it be a hammer? And where we fall in that pendulum will largely have a deciding factor into the trade imbalance.”

So, all of those things, Kieffer says will impact our agricultural goods in one way or another …

KIEFFER … “The good news is, we haven’t lost a whole lot of ground on the volume side, but we need to get those prices up. And how do we do that? By exporting.”

Again, that is Sam Kieffer, Vice President of Public Policy at the American Farm Bureau Federation on our trade imbalance between imports and exports.