World agricultural trade has become incre3singly important issue as evidenced by its inclusion in the ongoing Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GA TT). Special regional trade agreements either in place or under discussion (i.e. the U.S. Caribbean Basin Initiative, U.S./Canada Free Trade Agreement, EC-1992 and the U.S./Mexican Free Trade Agreement) make the process of agricultural trade negotiation even more complex. This paper reviews a broad range of world and agricultural trade statistics in an effort to place Western Hemisphere agricultural trade into perspective. It then goes on to summarize some of the research conducted by the University of Florida, Department of Food and Resource Economics designed to help identify the impact of trade programs and agricultural policies in the Western Hemisphere. Finally, the paper discusses some of the issues and concerns that need to be addressed in the context of trade agreements currently under consideration in the Western Hemisphere.