Aug. 19—Over the first half of 2025, the U.S. agriculture trade deficit hit a record $28.6 billion, according to the Aug. 7 posting by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This is a jump from the same time period last year, January-June 2024, which posted a $18.4 billion gap.

U.S. agriculture exports through June this year totaled $85.6 billion; imports totaled $114.1 billion. Tariffs or no tariffs, the profile of U.S. agriculture and food supply has been food import-dependency in recent years—except for grains and oilseeds—imposed by the transnational monopolies of the agro-financial-complex of Wall Street and the City of London.

For decades, the U.S. was manipulated into producing a surplus of exportable grains and oil seeds, as the export-source for the monopoly globalist cartels to dominate, while all other food types—from seafood to asparagus—were increasingly sourced abroad, again, by the same globalist cartels, raking it in from cheap labor. For example, 60% of U.S. fresh fruit consumption is imported, 40% of fresh vegetable consumption, and 85% of apple juice consumption.

For a long while, the export revenue from the huge volume of grains and oilseeds exported from the U.S. masked the volume of imports of the other agriculture commodities, until 2019, when the agriculture trade deficit showed up, the first time in 60 years. The deficit has been worsening since, regardless of whether a Biden or Trump administration.

The solution? Collaborative roll-back of wrongful international supply lines, with credit and resources for diversified, family farming, and mutual interest trade. Instead Washington’s tariffs and trade belligerence are causing havoc. An example: soybeans.

China, once the largest importer of U.S. soybeans, has currently held off from placing any orders at all from the U.S., as of the next soybean purchasing period, beginning in September (harvest time). Last week, President Trump posted an appeal on Truth Social, “I hope China will quickly quadruple its soybean orders. This is also a way of substantially reducing China’s Trade Deficit with the U.S.A.” China has drastically diverted its soybean purchases to South America.