The Department of Agriculture is predicting a $2 billion decrease in the nation’s agricultural trade deficit, a boon for President Donald Trump as he tries to bill his global tariff war as a win for farmers.
The quarterly trade report released Thursday, which predicts a $47 billion deficit in fiscal 2025, is the first since administration officials delayed and redacted parts of the May report that forecast a record high $49.5 billion deficit that ran counter to the White House’s public statements on trade. Like its predecessor, the August report does not include the written analysis that had accompanied the numbers for decades.
The revised trade prediction still represents an increase from fiscal 2024, when the deficit for farm goods hit $31.8 billion. It also projects a $41.5 billion farm trade deficit in fiscal 2026.
A USDA spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment about the report’s lack of written analysis.
