**********AMERICAN FARM BUREAU FEDERATION**********
**********EXECUTIVE NEWSWATCH**********
**********February 20, 2003*********
2002 MARKS LARGEST TRADE DEFICIT IN HISTORY
The Commerce Department today reported that the United States recorded a $435.2 billion trade deficit for 2002, the largest deficit in history. The deficit record had been $378.7 billion, set in 2000. Statistics used by the Commerce Department indicate that agricultural products, which normally help bolster the trade balance, also recorded a slight deficit. This is only the second time in history that Americans bought more imported foods than U.S. farmers sold abroad. According to AFBF Senior Economist John Skorburg, the Commerce Department numbers are a bit deceiving, due to the fact that the Agriculture Department today issued a report (Outlook for US Ag Trade AES-37), which forecasts a $14 billion surplus for U.S. agriculture for 2003, based on $57 billion in exports and $43 billion in imports.
While both the Commerce Department and USDA show huge trade surpluses for U.S. bulk farm commodities, such as corn, wheat, soybeans, rice and oilseeds, the biggest difference, according to Skorburg, is that Commerce figures include seafood and fish, where the United States has a deficit of $7 billion. The AFBF economist called this "a major difference" between the two reports that "explains most of the diversion."
According to the Commerce report, the United States experienced the largest trade gap with China, a deficit of $103.1 billion, followed by Japan ($70.1 billion), Canada ($49.8 billion) and Mexico ($37.2 billion).
* Commerce Department news release: