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dairy:
trade |
| International
dairy trade absorbs only about 5 percent of the cow's milk produced
globally. The trade is primarily in major manufactured dairy products—butter,
cheese, and dry milk powders—with some trade in fluid milk products,
ice cream, yogurt, and dry whey products. The United States has not
been a major sustained exporter of dairy products. There have been
sporadic unsubsidized exports of butter and nonfat dry milk powder,
but more often some subsidy has been required. The United States is
an important importer of relatively large (although mostly fixed)
amounts of cheese.
Until the conclusion of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement
on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the United States employed rigid dairy
product import quotas to shield our milk price support program from
the international dairy market. As a member of the World
Trade Organization, the United States moved to so-called tariff
rate quotas (TRQs) for dairy products. The TRQs allow imports at
very low tariffs up to fixed amounts. Any additional imports are
subject to very high tariffs. Many of the individual TRQs are administered
through licenses for imports of specific products from specific
countries or regions.
for more information, contact:
James J. Miller
web administration: webadmin@ers.usda.gov
page updated: August 13,
2004
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