By S. Patricia Batres-Marquez, Senior Research Analyst
Based on the latest data published by USDA-FAS, U.S. pork exports from January to April 2025 reached a volume of 809,612 metric tons (MT), down 3.1% from the same period during 2024 (see Figure 1). The export value was down 2.6% to $2.38 billion from the previous year ($2.44 billion).
Monthly data shows that the volume of exports in April 2025 declined 9.5% to 197,816 MT from the preceding month as exports to all top destinations fell. However, exports in April were higher than those in February 2025 (Figure 2). The export volume in April declined 11.3% compared with the prior year (223,102 MT). In addition, the export value in April 2025 was down 11.0% to $587.480 million from the same month last year ($660.204 million).
Figure 1. U.S. Total Quantity of Pork Exports (Jan-Apr 2024 and 2025)
Figure 2. U.S. Monthly Quantity of Total Pork Exports
Figure 3 shows that from January to April 2025, U.S. pork muscle cut shipments to the top four market destinations declined. For Mexico, the main market, exports (330,504 MT) fell less than 1% from the same period last year. Exports to Japan (103,834 MT), South Korea (79,765 MT), and Canada (51,157 MT), declined 14.1%, 12.8%, and 16.0%, respectively, compared with the first four months of 2024. These four markets generated a total value of $1.64 billion worth of U.S. pork exports for the period of January to April 2025, with shipment to Mexico generating 45% of total value, followed by Japan (25%), South Korea (16%), and Canada (14%). Overall, the value of U.S. pork shipments to these four markets was down 8% (or about $133.43 million) from the previous year (January to April 2024).
Compared with the first four months of 2024, U.S. pork muscle cut exports to the Rest of the World (ROW) were up 4.7% to 196,446 MT in 2025, due in part to increased exports to some Latin American countries such as Colombia (42,521 MT), Honduras (20,590), Guatemala (13,097 MT), Costa Rica (7,938 MT), and Panama (3,439 MT). Exports to these five countries made up 44.6% of total volume exported to ROW during January to April 2025.
U.S. pork muscle cut exports to China (47,905 MT) grew 16.1% during January to April 2025 relative to the same period the previous year. At the same time, shipments of U.S. pork variety meats to China, which is the largest market for these U.S. pork products, declined 16.5% to 84,164 MT compared with the first four months of 2024. This reflects the substantial reduction in April’s shipments. According to the USMEF, China’s retaliatory duties are a major headwind for U.S. pork muscle cuts and U.S. pork variety meats. USMEF indicated that China’s total duties on U.S. pork and pork variety meats reached 172% in April and were cut to 57% on May 14. Note that most of the total volume of exports to China consists of U.S. pork variety meats (see Figure 3).
While the total volume of U.S. pork variety meats exported from January to April 2025 was down 11.1% to 164,647 MT from the previous year (185,227 MT), shipments to some countries such as Mexico (49,299), Colombia (2,696 MT), Panama (1,186 MT), Taiwan (949 MT), Vietnam (589 MT), and El Salvador (326 MT) increased compared with a year ago.
U.S. variety meat total export value (January to April 2025) to all destinations estimated at $329.55 million was down 7% from last year. China accounted for 59% of total value of U.S. variety meat exports, followed by Mexico with 23%. This is an indication that U.S. pork variety meat exports mainly depend on China and Mexico. U.S. pork variety meat exports make up about 18% to 20% of U.S. total pork exports in any given year, with the remaining exports as U.S. pork muscle cuts.
Figure 3. U.S. Quantity of Pork and Pork Variety Meat Exports to Top Destinations (Jan-Apr 2024 and 2025)