Foreign Agricultural Trade of the United States January/February 1991

The January/February 1991 issue of Foreign Agricultural Trade of the United States reports the following information: U.S. agricultural exports fell nearly $600 million to $39.3 billion, their first decline in 4 years. Wheat exports fell $2 billion, and other grains fell to a lesser degree, offsetting increased exports of cotton, tobacco, horticultural products, and animal products. Horticultural product exports showed the largest gain, but much of the apparent $1.4-billion increase. stemmed from revised procedures for collecting data. U.S. imports of farm products totaled $22.8 billion, up 5 percent from $21.7 billion 1n 1989. Larger purchases of competitive commodities, such as cattle, meat, dairy products, fruits and vegetables, and sugar accounted for most of last year's growth. Competitive products now constitute 75 percent of total agricultural imports.