International Trade Increases Demand For Farm Products

Excerpt from International Trade Increases Demand for Farm Products Except during times of war, the United States has difficulty in maintaining markets here athome for as much as we are capable of produc ing. During the reasonably full employment of the decade of the 1920's, foreign loans and industrial and agricultural exports paid for in part by those loans helped maintain domestic employment here. Something of the same sort may happen in the first decade after this war. Last time, after _the foreign loans stopped, inter national trade slumped. -undoubtedly this con tributed to the world depression which followed. This time we face the challenge: As export trade supported by loans begins to decline, can we find other ways to maintain markets? To do that, _we must maintain and increase our own domestic consumption, both of the things we make here and of the things-we buy from_ other countries, to such an extent that the farmers and workers of this and other _countries can continue producing and consuming up to their full capabilities. Large exports supported by foreign loans can help support markets for a time after the war. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Extract: The rapid expansion of U.S. agricultural exports over the past two decades has greatly enhanced the role of exports in the U.S. agricultural economy and has increased the stake of U.S. farmers in foreign economic growth and trade, and the development of foreign markets. The growth of U.S. agricultural exports has been closely related to income growth in foreign countries. This study examines the changing nature of world import demand for agricultural products, induced by economic growth and increased incomes, and its impact on and significance for (1) U.S. agriculture, (2) changes in the commodity composition of U.S. agricultural exports, (3) market shares of U.S. agricultural exports, (4) future market potential for U.S. farm products, and (5) income and export opportunities for American farmers with continued growth in world demand and agricultural trade.

International agricultural trade now exceeds one trillion dollars. It is one of the key factors in the world economy, and the United States, like many other countries, depends on it to keep food prices reasonable, our balance of payments healthy, and the dollar from collapsing on the international money exchanges. The Symposium on International Trade and Agriculture held at Tucson, Arizona, in April 1977, covered all major topics of trade and commerce policy as they relate to agriculture. The papers presented in this book reflect the major concerns of outstanding professional economists and a great variety of agricultural research organizations.

Agricultural trade has become an integral part of world agriculture. During the 1970s, the real growth in world agricultural trade was phenomenal. For example, the value of U. S. agricultural exports alone increased more than fivefold during this period. In April, 1978, a small group of West Coast agricultural economists (Hillman, Josling, Sarris, Schmitz, King, and McCalla) met to form what is now called the International Trade Consortium which is financed, in part, by the U. S. Department of Agriculture and Agriculture Canada. One of the products of this project was a book published in 1979 by A. F. McCalla and T. E. Josling (editors), Imperfect Markets in Agricultural Trade, Allenheld, Osmun and Co., 1981. In the same vein, this book is a result of an International Trade Consortium meeting held in Berkeley, California, in the early 1980s.

This book is a pivotal publication that seeks to improve food security in the conditions of escalating protectionism in global agricultural trade. The authors argue that global trade systems have been increasingly distorted by emerging trade tensions between major actors such as the US, China, the EU, and Russia, as well as trade policies in many other countries. In view of the most recent disruption of global food supply chains due to the outbreak of the COVID-19, the book examines the effects of administrative restrictions, tariff escalations, and other forms of protectionism on food security. Over the decades, food security concerns have been emerging, along with the growth of the world population. More than two billion most impoverished people in the world spent up to 70% of their disposable income on food. In 2020, the running pandemic has unraveled accumulated problems. As many countries rely on agricultural imports, lockdowns and disrupted food production and supply chains tremendously threaten food security of those nations. Agricultural trade was already slowing in 2019 before the virus struck, weighed down by trade tensions, and decelerating economic growth. The spread of the virus and strict quarantine measures trigger economic decline that results in food prices rises and volatilities. Due to the pandemic, nearly all regions will suffer double-digit decline in trade volumes 2020. The virus will be defeated, but the effects of the protectionism outbreak would have a much longer-lasting impact on agricultural production, international supply chains, and food security worldwide. In this publication, the authors probe into many of the choices that link national, regional, and global policies extensively with the provision of food security for all in the new era of post-virus global trade. Since studying global agricultural trade has a multinational application, its outcomes might be shared with a broad international network of stakeholders, including research institutions, universities, and individual researches. The book is appropriate for government officials, policymakers, and businesses of many countries. Adaptation of research outcomes and solutions to the situation in particular countries and various collaboration formats will let to increase the visibility of the publication and to elaborate new practices and solutions in the sphere of establishing sustainable food security.