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Business of Food & Beverage

Dairy Celebrates Near-Record Export Levels – With Canada and Mexico As Besties

Feb. 17, 2025

The International Dairy Foods Assn. worries about tariffs but also notes unfulfilled promise of past market access from Canada.

Dave Fusaro

The U.S. dairy industry enjoyed a near-record year for exports, with foreign trade reaching $8.2 billion in 2024—the second-highest total export value ever and a $223 million year-over-year increase. That’s according to new data from USDA and cited by International Dairy Foods Assn. (IDFA).

Ironically, Mexico and Canada — with whom the new president has been threatening with tariffs — were U.S. dairy’s top two global trading partners, representing more than 40% of U.S. dairy exports. Each country imported record values of dairy at $2.47 billion and $1.14 billion respectively.

Central American markets also surged, with Costa Rica, Guatemala and El Salvador all importing record values of U.S. dairy. U.S. dairy exports to China declined in 2024, marking the lowest year since 2020.

“The U.S. dairy industry is ready to capitalize on a renewed trade agenda in 2025,” said Michael Dykes, president and CEO of IDFA. “Consumers in the United States and around the world continue to demand more U.S. dairy … Our industry is poised to become the world’s leading supplier of dairy products thanks to the resilience and innovation of the American dairy industry.

“To do that, we need a trade agenda that prioritizes market access and ensures a level playing field,” Dykes continued. “For too long, our exports to Canada have yet to fulfill the promises of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) because Canadian policies continue to prevent American exporters from filling their tariff-rate quotas.

“Demand remains soft in key markets such as China and Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, Vietnam, and Malaysia, illustrating the need for a strategic approach to trade with markets in the Asia Pacific region. Overall, U.S. dairy exports are performing well, but we can do more. With new trade agreements that remove obstacles and increase market access, we wouldn’t just break records—we would redefine the global dairy landscape for decades to come.”

IDFA said U.S. dairy exports have nearly tripled since the early 2000s, and the U.S. became the world’s third-largest dairy product exporter behind New Zealand and the European Union (EU). Roughly 18% of all U.S. dairy production is exported.

About the Author

Dave Fusaro | Editor in Chief

Dave Fusaro has served as editor in chief of Food Processing magazine since 2003. Dave has 30 years experience in food & beverage industry journalism and has won several national ASBPE writing awards for his Food Processing stories. Dave has been interviewed on CNN, quoted in national newspapers and he authored a 200-page market research report on the milk industry. Formerly an award-winning newspaper reporter who specialized in business writing, he holds a BA in journalism from Marquette University. Prior to joining Food Processing, Dave was Editor-In-Chief of Dairy Foods and was Managing Editor of Prepared Foods.