U.S. dominance in ag export race is softening

The United States lost its place as the world’s largest wheat exporter a decade ago, and now its leadership in exports of corn, cotton and tree nuts is being challenged, said a new USDA report. “Changes in global patterns of production and agricultural markets affected U.S. export competitiveness during the last two decades,” said the Economic Research Service, pointing to increasing competition from Brazil, Argentina, the EU and Australia. Brazil could supplant the United States this marketing year as the No. 1 corn exporter for the second time ever, and despite some disadvantages “Brazilian leadership in corn exports may not be temporary,” said three University of Illinois agricultural economists in mid-March. China became the top importer of Brazilian corn in January. In its report, the USDA looked at trends in corn, wheat, soybean, cotton and tree nut exports from 2000-21. The United States did not negotiate any new free trade agreements from 2012-20, potentially limiting its ...