Who Imports and Exports Ag Products in the U.S.?

China, Mexico and Canada are the biggest foreign buyers of U.S. agricultural goods. The countries spent between $28 billion and $29 billion each on U.S. farm goods in 2023, according to the USDA. The EU and Japan purchased products worth $12.6 billion and $11.9 billion, respectively, that year, making them the top 4 and top 5 buyers. 

Previous to 2020, China had bought far fewer U.S. ag products. One specification of the deal Donald Trump and Chinese officials struck at the end of the trade war early that year was that the country would buy more American goods to make up for the trade deficit between the two countries. The conflict had seen tariffs and retaliatory tariffs imposed on a number of U.S. and Chinese trade goods, also affecting agricultural products heavily. While overall, the increased import condition was not met in its entirety by the Chinese side, purchases of U.S. agricultural goods did rise and made China the biggest export destination of U.S. farm products, up from rank 3. The China-U.S. trade deficit shrunk in 2023, but mainly due to fewer imports from the country overall.

As far as imports of ag products into the U.S. go, Mexico was the biggest partner delivering goods, followed by Canada. The European Union sold products worth almost $33 billion to the U.S. that year, while Brazilian and Chinese imports remained in the single digits.