| United States Department of Agriculture |
| Foreign Agricultural Service |
| Circular Series FHORT 01-01 |
| January 2001 |
Trade and U.S. Export
Opportunities
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World
Horticultural Trade and U.S. Export Opportunities |
The U.S. horticultural product trade deficit with the European Union (EU) totaled $2.7 billion in fiscal year (FY) 1999/2000, up 17 percent from the deficit recorded in FY 1998/99. A stronger U.S. dollar vis-a-vis the Euro is a factor, among others, in the growing U.S. horticultural trade deficit with the EU. Total U.S. imports of horticultural products from the EU have increased nearly 70 percent in the last six fiscal years (from $2.7 billion in FY 1993/94 to $4.5 billion in FY 1999/2000). Categories with the largest import increases since FY 1993/94 include wine (up more than 90 percent), fresh vegetables (up 64 percent), and fresh citrus (up more than 670 percent). The increase in imports of EU fresh citrus reflects growing U.S. demand for Spanish clementines, of which sales to the United States totaled $85 million in FY 1999/2000. The Netherlands, France, Italy, and Spain, in that order, are the major EU suppliers of horticultural products to the United States. U.S. exports of horticultural products to the EU in FY 1999/2000 were valued at $1.9 billion, down 13 percent from FY 1998/99, but up 14 percent from the value recorded in FY 1993/94. The largest U.S. export gains in the last six fiscal years include wine (up more than 300 percent), frozen vegetables (up nearly 90 percent), and fruit and vegetable juices (up nearly 60 percent). The largest U.S. exports losses during this same period were in the categories of cut flowers, tree nuts, and dried fruits.
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