I've been going on quite a long time over those poor soybean farmers Trump went on about during his first term to justify going after trade imbalances. A product most Americans wouldn't have given much notice about like as if he'd said their steak, eggs, and potatoes. Ironically soybeans were on a rather even rate of exports but took a sudden dive downward right before he started on about his heartfelt response to soybean farmers. I kept telling people about his trade deals he signed right before exiting office that saw a 386% increase of our beef going to China, 79% increase of potatoes going to Japan, and how Saudi Arabia couldn't get enough of our eggs. I kept saying that his trade deals contributed to Biden's inflation, hidden underneath at the time by all the hype over how China would no longer be able to steal US patented technologies. Nobody paid much attention, but now the administration is coming out saying that the rate of inflation as it stands right now, will probably hang tough around three percent for a considerable amount of time. At least that's the number they are going on about where it stands despite many people aren't convinced about that. When you see some of the current percentage increases in trade given between 2015-2024, most are averaging in that range to slightly about or slightly below, so three percent looks like a rather good guess at the number we'll be stuck with for "quite some time", as in forever being "quite some time". But, by the time it's all said and done for, it will grow significantly more. By then he won't care, he'll be long gone out of office.
Let's take a look at the year prior to that great soybean dip in 2018 and see what was going on. It's going to be quite undeniable this can all be attributed to a program implemented under The Trump Administration in 2017.
Trade policy advances are critical to US agriculture's success in the global export arena. Since USDA first established a standalone mission area focusing on trade and international affairs in 2017, USDA's Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs has made a significant advance to support US agriculture.
In 2023, the actions of USDA's Foreign Services helped preserve $6.4 billion in total US agricultural exports. That year exports of US beef were valued at nearly $10.1 billion.
In 2024, USDA export promotion programs, (such as Foreign Market Development, and Regional Agricultural Program), provided more than $36.9 million to the US agricultural industry to support and grow exports of US beef and pork.
Though that $10.1 billion is what was exported in 2024, 2023 number should be $8.8 billion per an article written on the economic gains made in comparison to what is invested to achieve those gains.
In 2023, U.S. agricultural exports valued at $175.5 billion had generated an additional $186.9 billion in economic activity, for a total of $362.4 billion in economic output. This means that, on average, every $1 of U.S. agricultural products exported generated a total of $2.06 of domestic economic activity. Soybean and corn bulk exports were valued at $40.7 billion and generated an additional $35.9 billion in economic activity. Bovine meat exports followed, with an export value of $8.8 billion and an additional $14.2 billion in economic activity generated.
Let's take a look at some of the 2024 export stats. Click the link or put fas (dot) usda (dot) gov (slash) data (slash) commodities to bring you to Commodities and Product page of USDA and click on any food item listed to find the stats.
Beef - Total Export Value 10.26 billion. Total Volume (in millions) 1.29 metric tons. Three-year average 10.71 billion. Compound Growth Rate 5.2% (2015-2024)
US Eggs and Products Exports - Total Export Value 750.29 million. Total Volume 25.392 metric tons. Three-year average 743.28 million. Compound Growth Rate 1.7% (2015-2024)
Pork - Total Export Value 8.64 billion. Total Export Value (millions) 3.03 metric tons. Three-year average 8.17 billion. Compound Rate Growth 4.5% (2015-2024).
US Dairy, Livestock and Poultry Exports - Total Export Value 35.76 billion. Total Value (millions) 10.50 metric tons. Three-year average 36.03 billion. Compound Rate Growth 3.7% (2015-2024)
Poultry Meat and Products (excluding eggs) - Total Export Value 5.56 billion. Total Value (millions) 3.50 metric tons. Three-year average 5.64 billion. Compound Rate Growth 3.1% (2015-2024)
Dog and Cat food - Total Export Value 2.53 billion. Total Volume 859,723 metric tons. Three-year average 2.47 billion. Average Growth Rate 7% (2015-2024)
US Wheat - Total Export Value 5.83 billion. Total Value (millions) 21.47 metric tons. Three-year average 6.74 billion. Compound Growth Rate 0.36% (2015-2024)
US Condiments and Sauces - Total Export Value 2.39 billion. Total Value (millions) 1.03 metric tons. Three-year average 2.27 billion. Compound Growth Rate 3.7% (2015-2024)
Fresh Vegetables - Total Export Value 2.94 billion. Total Value (millions) 2.38 metric tons. Three-year average 2.83 billion. Compound Growth Rate 2.1% (2015-2024)
Milled Grains and Products - Total Export Value 1.23 billion. Total Value (millions) 1.35 metric tons. Three-year average 1.2 billion. Compound growth rate 4.8% (2015-2024)
US Corn - Total Export Value 13.7 billion. Total Value (millions) 61.72 billion. Three-year average 15.09 billion. Compound Growth Rate 5.2% (2015-2024)
US Live Animals - Total Export Value 1.3 billion. Total Value 61.72 metric tons. Three-year average 1.18 billion. Compound Growth Rate 6.1% (2015-2024)
There are more than what I listed here, processed fruit, processed vegetables, processed food products, baked goods, beer, wine, distilled spirits, confectioners, dairy products, etc. Each product comes with billions more in value, and of course, billions of metric tons of food products used to make them, applying further demand on the markets of which you pay higher pricing due to those demands. I painstakingly put them in the post because many simply won't go look. I deliberately added the cat and dog food because it goes hand in hand in what I had been saying all along, which included chicken paws in the spike of items leaving the country for China. Chicken paws are a favored food item of Chinese people, here they mostly get ground up for pet foods. After his trade agreements, China was paying $461 million for our chicken paws, before that farmers were getting $22.4 million for them here. Who would you sell your chicken paws to? It's completely undeniable that pet food has skyrocketed over the last few years and shortages of aluminum for cans isn't the only thing accelerating the price. It's not just the chicken paws, but the added expense of other products, the aluminum, and now, competing on a global marketplace for the pet food. The reality is, if they listed the prices that have risen the most, pet food would come near listing right under beef, pork and chicken prices. That's how expensive it is getting.
Why? Because the man who got elected will take a $15.00 steak and charge people $150,000 to sit down to dinner with him. Right after the first time he ran, he held a dinner party with friends where he joked, he paid ten bucks for the steak and will charge them a hundred for it. That is what that mentally gets you, a man who'll put the squeeze subjectively on what he thinks he can get out of it. Trump additional funding to USDA's Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs was meant to push harder on exporting US goods, as for every dollar invested, there's a $24.50 return on that dollar. It's a good punch line for those who can afford the squeeze, but many Americans aren't laughing.
Same happens when they give farmers money, what most call a bail out. Since they are low man on the totem pole when it comes to the big profits, giving them a bail out for their incredible ability to use the lowest investment known to man to make billions off, some seeds, fertilizer, and fuel is why Trump thinks they are the greatest farmers in the world, they get little in return for all their hard work, throwing a couple billion in bail out to share among farmers is a nothingburger in comparison to the billions made off the work. Coincidentally it's called an Agricultural Trade Multipliers, ATM, everybody loves an ATM, just too bad for most of them not much money comes out of it.
If you still aren't convinced that a lot of this inflation is on him, well, it's part of The America First agenda, not Americans. Those behind The America First agenda are so pleased with their results, so happy Americans are paying thirty bucks for a steak, they'd decided to give out millions in grants to promote more of your products leaving the country. Read it and weep. Stakeholders Notice, Funding Opportunity America First Trade Promotion Program is under the newsroom section of the FAS website. It gets worse. Not worse in the regard that it's a food program for people in need in other countries, but along with that, there's a provision for offering aid to countries to promote trade to countries where current trade doesn't exist. It's a way for them to get their foot in the door but it will further enhance the demand for US products and goods and accelerate the cost on US goods that Americans have to compete for on the global stage. All compliments of The America First agenda.
It's all there for any to read, they just have to take the time to go read it. The charts make it clear; they list all the accomplishments starting in **2017 **and into each year since. Many of the graphs speak the same, as soon as Trump left office in 2020, the graphs start to spike in exports leaving the country. It takes time to work out trade agreements, it doesn't happen as quickly as the spikes indicate, those trade deals were signed before Trump left office. They are listed on the site, along with the charts that show all the work toward expansion as a result of this incentivized pushed behind exporting more goods.
There really is a point of no return, and six bucks for a pound of hamburger isn't it. Trump knows that he'll be long gone from office before it's figured out that stubborn three percent averaged inflation rate isn't going to decline and is a permanent markup due to increased demand on US goods. The additional increased cost to come will get murkily hidden behind a maze of confusion over the tariff issues. Which was just another way to put a squeeze on Americans that they never been taxed before on. American generally don't want food products grown in some countries not knowing what those countries food regulations are. Much like those eggs he got so easily imported to bring down the cost of eggs, Turkey uses genetically modified feed to feed farm animals. That news tidbit is also on the FAS newsroom page as a concern over if Turkey is taking the right steps in addressing concerns when it comes to food exports. Looking at the charts of expanded imports/exports, those charts list what each country is/has been doing to achieve mutually agreed changes needed to accept each other's imports/exports. This isn't going away, and it is only going to expand, making the billionaires richer while the people get poorer, but Trump doesn't care, he'll be long gone before people figure it out that America First was never about prosperity for Americans. When it comes to your food, the prosperity in the "peace and prosperity" mantra, is to use your food for global distribution to expand jobs here and create jobs for many countries, leaving Americans to pay increasing prices placed on demand for their food, and in some instances getting subpar food imported when demand has exceeded expectations, after all, four hundred and sixty one million for chicken paws is way more enticing than twenty two point three million.
