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U.S. agricultural imports are forecast at $600 million below fiscal 2017, but $1.5 billion above USDA’s
previous fiscal 2018 projection.
Nonetheless, a bevy of factors point to strong domestic and international demand for U.S. farm products,
despite some potential emerging obstacles to U.S. trade expansion. (A topic for a later story in this
series.)
• Global economic growth continues to strengthen. The International Monetary Fund put 2017
growth in gross domestic product (GDP) at 3.7 percent and projects 3.9 percent for 2018.
• World agricultural trade keeps expanding along with the economy and population. USDA
estimates world agricultural trade nearly doubled in real terms (adjusted for inflation) from 1995
to 2014, driven by a 25 percent increase in world population and 75 percent increase in the world
economy. The growth rate was higher in developing countries, which spurs greater food
consumption especially.
www.Agri-Pulse.com 5
