In this installment of the ‘Agronometrics In Charts’ series, we take a look at fresh produce availability in the USA. Each week the series looks at a different horticultural commodity, focusing on a specific origin or topic visualizing the market factors that are driving change.

Imports play an increasingly critical role in ensuring the year-round availability of fresh fruits and vegetables in the United States. Since the 2008 completion of the transition to tariff- and quota-free trade among Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), imports of fresh produce have steadily grown. This trend has persisted with few interruptions, even following the implementation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in 2020, which maintained NAFTA’s market access provisions for fruits and vegetables.

According to a recently published note by the USDA, from 2007 to 2023, the share of fresh fruit availability in the U.S. supplied by imports increased from 50% to 59%, while for fresh vegetables, it grew from 20% to 35% (excluding potatoes, sweet potatoes, and mushrooms). For certain crops like asparagus, avocados, bell peppers, blueberries, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers, raspberries, snap beans, and tomatoes, the import share rose by more than 20 percentage points during this period.

However, a decline in blueberry and orange imports contributed to a slight reduction in the overall share of fresh fruit availability from imports between 2022 and 2023. Despite these fluctuations, Mexico and Canada remain the dominant suppliers of fresh produce to the U.S., with Mexico accounting for 51% of fresh fruit imports and 69% of fresh vegetable imports by value in 2023. Canada supplied 2% of fruit imports and 20% of vegetable imports in the same year.

The steady increase in imports underscores the growing interconnectedness of North American agricultural trade and the importance of robust trade agreements in meeting consumer demand for fresh, high-quality produce year-round.

Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics.

(Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here)