U.S.
oilseed exports increased 41 percent in 2003 as world soybean
meal prices rose to more than $10 a bushel driven by Chinese
demand for animal feed.
U.S.
cotton exports increased 59 percent as strong world demand for
Chinese textiles and low Chinese stocks of raw cotton drove
prices higher.
U.S. cattle and beef exports increased 19 percent in 2003 as
sales to Japan resumed following the dissipation of the BSE
scare that depressed beef consumption in 2001 and 2002. The
Japanese BSE scare resulted from the discovery of an infected
cow in Japan in September, 2001. The first BSE case in the United
States was discovered in December, 2003 on a U.S. farm. Japan
imposed a ban on U.S. imports in the same month.
U.S. imports of cocoa, chocolate, and confectionery increased
by 33 percent as the result of high prices for cocoa and chocolate
attributable to a civil war in the Cote d'Ivoire which has disrupted
supplies from the world’s largest producer.
TRADE
SHIFTS in 2003 from 2002
U.S.
trade surplus:
Increased by $1.1 billion (38 percent) to $3.8 billion
U.S.
exports: Increased by $6.4 billion (11 percent)
to $64.7 billion
U.S.
imports: Increased by $5.3 billion (10 percent)
to $60.9 billion
