U.S. Dairy Cites New USITC Report in Call for Action on Canadian Dairy Trade Practices

Jun 02, 2026

The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) today reiterated their call for the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to use the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) joint review process to address Canada’s distortionary nonfat milk solids export practices. Their statement follows yesterday’s release of the U.S. International Trade Commission’s (USITC) Section 332 report, Nonfat Milk Solids: Competitive Conditions for the United States and Major Foreign Suppliers.

The report confirms what USDEC and NMPF have long documented: that Canadian milk production quotas that “aim to match domestic supply and demand for butterfat lead to a level of raw milk production that results in a domestic structural surplus of [nonfat milk solids] components.” The report goes on to note that the Canadian government-administered milk pricing system “unlinks its relatively high farmgate price of milk from the price that [nonfat milk solids] processors pay for milk components in Canada using regulated ‘price discrimination.’”

The Canadian structural surplus and pricing system outlined in the report served as a basis for USDEC and NMPF to work with the first Trump Administration to secure commitments during the USMCA negotiations for Canada to limit its artificially low-priced skim milk powder and milk protein concentrate exports. The deal established an annual threshold over which these nonfat milk solids exports are subject to a surcharge to ensure U.S. producers are not being undercut in the U.S. or international markets.

While the report acknowledges that Canada has to date limited its exports of products formally classified as nonfat milk solids, it also cites a marked increase in Canadian exports of products categorized under tariff codes for “blended dairy products” and “protein isolates,” that fall outside of the USMCA-disciplined tariff categorization. The report estimates that from 2013 to 2015 exports under the “protein isolate” tariff code were just 76 metric tons. Post USMCA implementation, the volume of protein isolates has grown dramatically to over 32,000 metric tons from 2022 to 2024. While the tariff code is not exclusive to dairy proteins, USITC estimates that most of the exports were dairy based.

USITC notes that the dairy products are entering the United States from new and expanded processing plants in British Columbia and Manitoba. The report cites that “[i]n addition to access to cost-competitive sources of [nonfat milk solids] components, these facilities received grants and loans from national and provincial governments.”

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.