U.S. agriculture registered a record $387 million trade deficit in April as exports were valued at $9.496 billion against imports valued at $9.983 billion, according to USDA's monthly ag trade update.
This marks the second consecutive monthly trade deficit after a $35 million deficit in March, based on USDA data available back to the mid-1970s. The prior record trade deficit on a monthly basis was set in June 2004 at $199 million, and the last time that there were two consecutive monthly trade deficits was in Jan. and Feb. 1969, according to USDA.
This brings the cumulative value of U.S. ag exports to $76.926 billion so far in Fiscal 2016, with imports totaling $66.8 billion for a trade surplus of $10.126 billion. All three areas are below to well below year-ago when ag exports were valued at $90.069 billion against ag exports at $67.147 billion for a trade surplus of $22.922 billion.
For April, the value of ag exports declined 7% compared to March while the value of imports only declined 3.5%.
USDA adjusted its ag export forecast May 27, forecasting exports for Fiscal 2016 at $124.5 billion with imports at a record $114.8 billion resulting in a forecast trade surplus of $9.7 billion. That compared to a February outlook from USDA for exports valued at $125 billion against imports of $118.5 billion for a trade surplus of just $6.5 billion.