More Than Half of U.S. Grain Bought by FTA Partners
More than half, or 55 percent of U.S. grain in all forms (GAIF) was bought by free trade agreement (FTA) partners in the 2018-19 marketing year.
The U.S. has 14 FTAs across 20 countries that bought 59.4 million tons of GIAF, including corn, sorghum, barley, DDGs, corn gluten feed/meal, and other co-products, according to new analysis of USDA trade data conducted by the U.S. Grain Council (USGC). Furthermore, the USGC finds that this demand is holding steady in the first six months of the 2019/20 marketing year, with U.S. FTA partners accounting for 56 percent of the country’s GIAF exports.
Topping the list were Mexico and Canada, due to proximity and duty-free trade maintained in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which continues to support exports that have tripled to Canada and quadrupled to Mexico since 1994. Mexico continues to be the top buyer of U.S. corn, barley, and DDGs, and the second top buyer for U.S. sorghum. Canada remains the second largest buyer of U.S. barley and ethanol, and the fourth largest buyer of U.S. corn. Meanwhile demand is growing from Central American markets due to CAFTA-DR, a regional free trade agreement between the U.S. and Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Domican Republic.
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