America's agricultural trade gap is widening in the tariff era

The U.S. farm trade deficit reached a record high in the first half of the year, according to new data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture published Thursday.

The deficit totals $28.6 billion so far in 2025, after the sector recorded a $4 billion gap in June. That month, U.S. farms exported $13.3 billion worth of goods while importing $17.4 billion worth of products. 

The deficit increased by about $10 billion from the same six-month period last year, when the agricultural trade deficit was at $18.4 billion.

Politico reported back in June that some members of the Trump administration had delayed and redacted a government analysis projecting a soaring agricultural trade deficit, citing people familiar with the matter. 

U.S. farms had consistently been in a trade surplus for the last five decades but changed course during President Donald Trump’s first term in office, Bloomberg reports. 

Trump’s trade war puts U.S. farms at even further risk of increasing the sector's deficit, as tariff rates across 70 countries went into effect Thursday. Import taxes range from 10% to a staggering 50% depending on the trade relationship. 

For countries with a trade deficit against the U.S., a baseline 15% tariff is now in force. Meanwhile, the Yale Budget Lab estimates the average U.S. import tariff will hit 18%, the highest since 1933.

— Catherine Baab contributed to this article.