Exports have become a major share of U.S. agricultural markets in recent years. They brought great profits to agriculture in the period 1973- 76. Agricultural products accounted for 23 percent of the value of total U.S. exports in 1974 (Table 1). Exports of agricultural commodities increased 297 percent from 1970 to 1974 while chemicals, the commodity group with the second largest growth, increased 232 percent.