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Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →In calendar year 2025, the United States imported $41 billion more agricultural products than it exported—the largest deficit in the USDA Economic Research Service’s agricultural trade series. Strong consumer demand helped drive imports, but it is only part of the story: imports have grown faster than exports for a decade, while a strong dollar, trade barriers and global competition have weighed on exports.
What the $41 billion figure measures
The figure is the difference between the value of U.S. agricultural imports and exports during calendar year 2025. USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) says imports exceeded exports by $41 billion, after the agricultural trade balance had been positive for nearly 60 years before shifting into deficit in 2019. ERS describes the 2025 gap as the largest in its agricultural trade series. USDA ERS’s 2025 chart reports the calendar-year result.
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This is a measure of trade value, not a measure of food availability. It does not mean the United States cannot produce enough food, nor that every imported item replaces something American farms could supply. USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Trade of the United States (FATUS) data covers raw and processed food and agricultural products under its WTO-aligned definition. It excludes categories such as agricultural machinery, fertilizers, seafood and forest products. USDA’s FATUS documentation explains the scope and data sources.
Why does the U.S. import so much food?
Imports meet demand for a wide range of high-value products, including foods that are difficult or uneconomic to grow domestically. Tropical products and produce available in the United States out of season are examples. Imports also include processed foods and alcoholic beverages, not only raw ingredients or bulk commodities.
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Most import value is in high-value products
In 2025, high-value products accounted for 98% of U.S. agricultural import value. Processed goods alone totaled $136 billion, or 64% of imports; horticultural goods made up 45%. Bulk commodities represented just 2%. These categories describe the mix by value, not the share of food consumed by weight. USDA ERS’s agricultural trade charts provide the 2025 breakdown.
Demand is one part of the import story
ERS points to a strong U.S. economy, a strong dollar and robust, diverse consumer appetite as import drivers. A stronger dollar can make foreign goods less expensive for U.S. buyers, supporting demand. It also has the opposite effect on the export side by making U.S. products less competitive for buyers using other currencies. ERS’s explanation of the 2025 trade gap identifies both effects.
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Imports have outpaced exports since 2015
The record gap reflects a longer-running divergence, not just a single-year jump. From 2015 to 2025, agricultural imports grew at a compound annual rate of 5.8%, compared with 2.3% for exports, according to ERS. Imports rose steadily, led by high-value consumer goods. Export growth faced headwinds from global competition, the strong dollar and trade barriers.
| Measure | Imports | Exports |
|---|---|---|
| Compound annual growth, 2015–2025 | 5.8% | 2.3% |
| 2025 value mix | 98% high-value products; 45% horticultural goods; 2% bulk commodities | 71% high-value products |
| Calendar-year 2025 total | Exceeded exports by $41 billion | $171.5 billion |
Growth rates and product shares are from USDA ERS’s 2026 trade materials; the export total is for calendar year 2025. The import and export mix figures use each side’s own total as the denominator, so they should not be read as directly comparable measures of physical volume. ERS’s import and export growth analysis and its agricultural trade charts provide the underlying context.
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Exports remain substantial, but face different pressures
U.S. agricultural exports totaled $171.5 billion in calendar year 2025. High-value products accounted for 71% of export value. Over the longer run, ERS links export demand to population and income growth abroad, increasingly diverse diets and changing global supply and demand. Those forces support sales overseas, but they do not eliminate competition from other producing countries or the effects of currency movements and trade barriers.
North American market access has also mattered historically. USDA’s overview notes that exports to Canada and Mexico quadrupled over the period following NAFTA, with trade continuing in the USMCA context. That observation refers to a longer historical period, not a fourfold increase in 2025. USDA ERS’s U.S. Agricultural Trade at a Glance discusses these longer-run export trends.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Calendar-year actuals are not the same as fiscal-year projections
USDA also publishes fiscal-year figures and forecasts, which use a different time basis. Fiscal years run from October 1 through September 30. In its February 2026 outlook, USDA reported agricultural imports of $219.4 billion in fiscal year 2025 and projected fiscal-year 2026 exports of $173.0 billion and imports of $210 billion. The $219.4 billion figure is not the calendar-year 2025 import total behind the $41 billion deficit.
The same outlook projects the deficit narrowing starting in fiscal year 2026. USDA expects tariffs and moderating exchange rates to slow import volumes, while demand for processed food and horticultural imports continues at a reduced pace. It also says growth in domestic livestock, dairy and poultry could reduce imports and support exports through 2035, while expanding South American grain and oilseed supplies could weaken U.S. export competitiveness. These are projections, not observed outcomes, and assume policies in place as of November 2025; later policy or market changes could alter the results. USDA’s Agricultural Projections to 2035 sets out the assumptions and outlook.
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How to follow the trade balance
ERS’s FATUS calendar-year data page provides annual trade values, product categories and trading-partner tables. It was updated April 21, 2026. Monthly trade releases can change the picture for the current year, so use annual calendar-year data for a full-year comparison and keep fiscal-year forecasts separate from reported results. USDA ERS’s FATUS data page links to tables and downloadable data.
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