IDFA Provides Comments Regarding Foreign Trade Barriers to U.S. Exports

The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) represents the nation’s dairy manufacturing and marketing industry, which supports more than 3 million jobs that generate $52 billion in direct wages and $779 billion in overall economic impact. IDFA’s diverse membership ranges from multinational organizations to single-plant companies and includes dairy companies and cooperatives, food retailers, and suppliers—all on the cutting edge of innovation and sustainable business practices. Together, they represent most of the milk, cheese, ice cream, yogurt and cultured products, and dairy ingredients produced and marketed in the United States and sold throughout the world.

As global and domestic demand for dairy continues to surge, American dairy processors are investing more than $15 billion in new and expanded manufacturing capacity. Exports are an important engine powering dairy-driven economic growth in the United States. In 2025, nearly 20% of all U.S.-produced milk was exported, totaling nearly $9.5 billion in dairy product exports to 143 countries.³

To maintain global competitiveness, IDFA members rely heavily on open markets, rules-based trading conditions, and fair opportunities for U.S. dairy products. Establishing strong trading relationships is a critical pathway to meeting this need, and we are grateful for the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) tireless efforts to pursue updated and sound trade agreements.

We acknowledge the positive resolutions reached in recent years through the outstanding work of USTR and its colleagues. Among other successes, we commend:

• Implementation of the United States–European Union Framework on an Agreement on Reciprocal, Fair, and Balanced Trade (U.S.–EU Trade Agreement): The agreement opens new export opportunities for U.S. dairy through tariff-rate quotas. Importantly, it also includes commitments to ensure that EU sustainability regulations do not unfairly burden U.S. companies or restrict trade.
• Two-year pause of Indonesia’s halal requirements and revocation of its preshipment verification requirements: These requirements would have increased costs, risks, and delays for U.S. dairy exports.
• Implementation of the U.S.–Cambodia Agreement on Reciprocal Trade: The agreement eliminates dairy tariffs, protects common cheese names, establishes equivalence for U.S. dairy sanitary certificates, and simplifies dairy facility requirements.

IDFA also recognizes the positive steps made through ongoing negotiations with India, Mexico, Canada, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, Jordan, the United Kingdom, and other countries. We encourage USTR to build on this progress and secure final agreements.

IDFA is eager to assist in these efforts and welcomes the opportunity to advise on foreign trade barriers to U.S. dairy exports for the 2027 National Trade Estimate (NTE) report. Below are some of IDFA’s priority foreign trade barriers facing the U.S. dairy industry, listed alphabetically by country, with each country appearing on its own page, as requested by the Federal Register notice.

Please do not hesitate to contact IDFA with any questions or requests for additional information regarding these comments.