The USDA Honey Import Data: Where American 'Honey' Actually Comes From

The US imported 429 million pounds of honey in 2023. That represents 73% of all honey Americans consumed that year. Four countries - India, Argentina, Brazil, and Vietnam - supplied 79% of those imports. The numbers look straightforward until you notice India shipped 45 million pounds despite not having anywhere near the bee population to produce that volume.

The 2025 World Beekeeping Awards in Copenhagen canceled their honey competition. Not because of funding issues or scheduling conflicts. Because honey adulteration became so pervasive that organizers couldn't guarantee submitted samples would be actual honey rather than corn syrup with honey flavoring.

That's where American honey comes from in 2026. And it's been this way for over two decades.

The Numbers That Don't Add Up

Americans consume roughly 550 million pounds of honey annually. US beekeepers produced 134 million pounds in 2024, down 4% from the previous year. That leaves a 416-million-pound gap between production and consumption.

Imports fill that gap. The US has been a net honey importer since the 1990s, with the deficit widening steadily. In 2010, imports comprised 54% of total US honey supplies. By 2020, that figure hit 70%. In 2023, it reached 73%. The trend line points one direction - American honey consumption depends increasingly on imports.

India became the largest single source of imported honey in 2021 and maintained that position through 2023, accounting for 39% of all US honey imports. Argentina supplied 23%, Brazil 11%, Vietnam 6%, with approximately 70 other countries making up the remaining 21%.

Here's the problem. India's bee population and honey production capacity can't support 45 million pounds of annual exports to the US alone, let alone global honey trade. Richard Adee, one of America's largest beekeepers and past president of the American Honey Producers Association, stated bluntly that India "doesn't have anywhere near the capacity - enough bees - to produce 45 million pounds of honey. It has to come from China."

The same mathematical impossibility applies to Vietnam's sudden honey export surge. When the US imposed heavy tariffs on Chinese honey starting in 2001, Southeast Asian honey production "miraculously increased," as University of Arkansas bee expert Jon Zawislak described it. Vietnam went from marginal honey exporter to major supplier virtually overnight.

How Honey Laundering Actually Works

The scheme operates simply. China produces honey cheaply - very cheaply. The US imposed anti-dumping tariffs as high as $1.20 per pound on Chinese honey in 2001 after determining China was flooding the American market and forcing US beekeepers out of business. That tariff makes Chinese honey non-competitive in the US market.

Solution: Don't ship it from China.

Chinese honey gets loaded into barrels, shipped by train to India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Mongolia, Russia, or other Asian countries. There it receives new labels showing the transhipment country as origin. New shipping manifests get created. The honey - still Chinese - gets loaded onto containers and shipped to the US market now showing Indian or Vietnamese or Thai origin on documentation.

The fraud succeeds because proving origin requires extensive lab testing analyzing pollen content. But many honey laundering operations use "ultra-filtration" that strips pollen from the honey entirely, making geographic origin untraceable. This process also removes color and flavor, so the chop shops blend the filtered Chinese honey with legitimate Indian or Vietnamese honey, creating a product that passes basic inspection while stretching the available supply.

The Alfred L. Wolff company case from 2006 documented the operation's scope. This major German food corporation laundered over 2 million pounds (900 tonnes) of Chinese honey through India between 2004-2006, evading nearly $80 million in US duties. During prosecution, employee confessions revealed "elaborate schemes to circumvent Chinese honey via Russia, India, Malaysia, South Korea, Mongolia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Philippines and Thailand."

The company's internal emails showed sophisticated coordination spanning Chicago to Hamburg to Hong Kong to Beijing. ALW directed employees to conduct all honey business via telephone and in German to avoid paper trails. When one customer rejected contaminated honey testing positive for chloramphenicol - an antibiotic the US bans from food - ALW simply found another customer willing to buy it at discount.

That prosecution didn't stop the practice. It taught the industry to be more careful.

The Current State of Adulteration

European Commission testing in 2023 found that 46% of sampled honey was suspected of dilution with corn, beet, or other sugar syrups. Not Chinese imports specifically - 46% of all tested honey from all sources showed evidence of adulteration.

US Food and Drug Administration testing in 2022-23 found 3% of imported honey adulterated. That sounds better until you see the 2021-22 testing showed 10% adulteration. The improved numbers don't necessarily mean cleaner honey - they might mean better fraud techniques that current testing can't detect.

Texas A&M's Vaughn Bryant, recognized as the US authority on pollen detection, studied 60 honey samples from major retailers across 10 states in 2011. Three-quarters had undergone ultra-filtration processing removing all pollen traces. That level of processing serves no legitimate commercial purpose except hiding origin.

The World Beekeeping Awards' decision to cancel honey competition speaks volumes. When the global beekeeping organization hosting the most prestigious honey contest can't guarantee entries will be actual honey, the problem has moved beyond "some bad actors" into systemic industry crisis.

The Anti-Dumping Duty Shell Game

The American Honey Producers Association and Sioux Honey Association petitioned the Department of Commerce in April 2021, alleging Argentina, Brazil, India, Ukraine, and Vietnam shipped honey to the United States below fair market value, injuring US producers. The DOC initiated anti-dumping investigations a month later.

Final determinations in spring 2022 favored US plaintiffs against exporters in Argentina, Brazil, India, and Vietnam - the four countries representing 80% of US honey imports. Anti-dumping duties ranging from 5.52% to 83.72% took effect June 1, 2022, with five-year terms.

The duties created immediate market disruption. A July 2024 DOC administrative review raised Argentina's anti-dumping duties from 16.9% to 58.34%, equating to price increases of 35-45 cents per pound. Vietnam's two largest exporters saw duties jump from 60.03% to 100.54% and 154.47%, adding 30-35 cents per pound.

But here's what actually happens. When tariffs or duties make one route uneconomical, the laundering operation simply shifts to different countries. When customs agents discovered Chinese honey typically shipped in blue steel drums, exporters painted the drums green. When scrutiny increased on Indian and Vietnamese honey, routes shifted through Cambodia, Thailand, and other Southeast Asian nations.

In 2026, Cambodian authorities seized approximately 80,000 pounds of honey from a producer suspected of falsifying origin. The company, Chan Honey Import Export, had shipped more than 9 million pounds to the US while allegedly labeling Vietnamese honey as Cambodian to avoid Vietnamese anti-dumping duties.

The shell game continues because profits massively exceed penalties. Evading $80 million in duties over three years - as ALW did - generates enormous profits even if eventually caught. Most operations never face prosecution. Those caught pay fines representing a fraction of total profits, then restructure operations and continue.

What This Means for US Beekeepers

Domestic honey production averaged 156 million pounds annually through the 2010s. Production dropped to 134 million pounds in 2024. The number of US bee colonies grew 3% to 2.6 million in 2024, but colony losses remain extreme - Project Apis m. surveys indicated 62% winter losses in early 2026.

The average price of domestically produced honey sold through all outlets was $2.52 per pound in 2023, down from $3.01 per pound in 2022. Meanwhile, imported honey prices in July 2024 ranged from 84 cents to $1.55 per pound depending on origin country and grade.

US beekeepers can't compete with 84-cent honey. They particularly can't compete when that honey isn't really from the labeled country, wasn't produced following any food safety standards, and potentially contains antibiotics, pesticides, and heavy metals banned in US production.

The math crushes domestic production. US beekeeping costs run $2-3 per pound for honey production when factoring in equipment, labor, wintering losses, and all associated expenses. Imported honey sells for less than half that price. Even assuming imported honey is legitimate and properly produced, the price differential makes US production economically challenging. When significant portions of that imported honey are laundered Chinese products evading tariffs and safety standards, domestic beekeepers face impossible competition.

Jon Zawislak summarized the situation: "Adulterated honey is actually being dumped in the U.S. market much cheaper than we could produce it here. A lot of beekeepers here were having trouble making ends meet, and they were also dealing with varroa mites - which were also from Asia - and some other diseases, so it was a very tough time for beekeepers."

The Honey Integrity Act and What It Won't Fix

Congress introduced the Honey Integrity Act in 2026 to create uniform standards of identity for honey. The proposed legislation aims to define what constitutes honey legally, establish testing protocols, and create penalties for mislabeling.

This addresses part of the problem - the domestic regulatory framework. It doesn't address the transhipment and origin fraud occurring overseas before honey reaches US customs. The act can mandate testing and create definitions, but it can't stop Chinese honey from being relabeled in India before shipping.

The fundamental enforcement problem remains: proving origin requires extensive lab analysis that customs can't perform on every shipment. Testing is expensive and time-consuming. Customs processes thousands of honey shipments annually. The system relies primarily on documentation, which sophisticated fraud operations expertly falsify.

Even when fraud is detected and prosecuted, the penalties rarely deter future operations. ALW paid fines and some executives faced charges, but the company continued operating. The global honey laundering network adapted, restructured, and kept running. Billions of dollars are at stake. Enforcement budgets are limited. The economics favor the fraudsters.

What Actually Happens to "American Honey"

The bulk honey imported by the barrel doesn't go directly to retail shelves. It moves through packers and processors who blend different sources, heat and filter the product, and package it into jars with familiar brands. That honey labeled "Product of US and Imported Honey" or "Packed in USA" contains some percentage of this imported honey from questionable origins.

Some products labeled "pure honey" test positive for corn syrup, rice syrup, or beet sugar adulteration. The FDA's 3% adulteration finding in 2022-23 testing represents only detected cases. Current testing methodologies can't catch sophisticated adulteration, particularly newer techniques using rice syrup or enzymatically modified sugars designed to pass standard screening.

Consumer research shows willingness to pay premiums for local honey increases significantly when informed about honey laundering. A 2019 study found information about negative health impacts of laundered honey increased consumers' willingness to pay premiums for local fraud-free honey by up to 27 percentage points.

But most consumers remain unaware. They see honey on supermarket shelves at $6-8 per pound, see "local honey" at farmers markets for $12-15 per pound, and choose the cheaper option assuming both are equally legitimate. They don't know the cheap honey might be Chinese corn syrup mixed with filtered honey stripped of all identifying characteristics and relabeled through three countries before reaching the store.

The Chinese Perspective

China remains the world's largest honey producer and exporter. From January to October 2024, China exported 139,758 tons of honey products to 100 countries, totaling $255.49 million - a 12.58% increase in volume and 4.13% rise in value year-over-year.

Chinese academic research acknowledges the transhipment reality. Liu Peng-fei and Li Hai-yan of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences wrote that to avoid "punitive import tariffs" Chinese enterprises "had to export to the United States via India or Malaysia in order to avoid high tariffs."

That's not speculation from American investigators. That's Chinese researchers documenting the practice in peer-reviewed academic literature.

The Chinese honey industry operates at massive scale with extremely low production costs. Quality controls vary dramatically. Some producers maintain high standards. Others cut every possible corner, using antibiotics banned in most markets, harvesting immature honey with high moisture content prone to fermentation, and adding corn syrup or other cheaper sweeteners to stretch volume.

The transhipment network developed specifically to circumvent US and European trade restrictions while maintaining market access. It works. Chinese honey reaches American consumers at competitive prices despite tariffs specifically designed to block it. The system succeeds because proving origin is difficult, enforcement resources are limited, and penalties are insufficient deterrents given the scale of profits.

What This Means Moving Forward

The honey market continues growing. Global honey market size was estimated at $9.2 billion in 2024 with projections showing 4.7% CAGR growth through 2034. The US honey market specifically shows even stronger growth - valued at $2.7 billion in 2023 with projections reaching $9.5 billion by 2032 at 15.62% CAGR.

That growth occurs despite - or perhaps enabled by - the widespread adulteration and fraud. Cheap honey maintains market prices accessible to consumers, driving continued consumption growth. If the market suddenly contained only legitimate, properly sourced honey at real production costs, prices would jump dramatically, likely reducing consumption.

The current system benefits many parties. Consumers pay low prices. Major honey packers and processors maintain margins buying cheap imports. Retailers move product at accessible price points. The losers are US beekeepers who can't compete, honest foreign producers undercut by fraudulent operations, and consumers who think they're buying honey but might be buying corn syrup with honey flavoring.

Enforcement remains challenging. The April 2025 blanket 10% tariff on all imported goods affected honey pricing, with additional country-specific reciprocal tariffs delayed 90 days. These tariffs drive adjustment by honey providers but don't solve the fundamental origin fraud problem. Tariffs only work if applied to actual origin countries. Transhipment and relabeling circumvents tariffs regardless of rate.

India extended its Minimum Export Price program on honey through December 2025, attempting to maintain price floors. This doesn't address whether Indian exports actually originate in India. It just sets minimum pricing for whatever is labeled as Indian honey.

The tightness in organic honey supply shows signs of improvement as new harvest seasons arrive, though prices remain elevated. Organic honey faces the same fraud pressures as conventional honey, with added complexity around organic certification verification.

The Uncomfortable Truth

When you buy honey at the supermarket, you probably don't know where it actually came from. The label says "Product of India" or "Product of Argentina," but that might mean it was loaded onto a boat in India after arriving there from China via train through multiple transhipment points.

The honey might be legitimate. It might be corn syrup adulterated. It might contain antibiotics. It might be ultra-filtered to remove all identifying traces. Testing every jar isn't economically feasible. Enforcement focuses on the most egregious cases while massive volumes slip through.

The USDA honey import data shows what countries shipped the honey according to customs documentation. It doesn't show where bees actually made it. Those are increasingly different questions with different answers.

American honey consumption depends on imports. Those imports come from a global supply chain with significant fraud. The system continues because it serves too many financial interests to change easily. US beekeepers lose ground annually. Consumers remain mostly unaware.

That's where American honey actually comes from in 2026. The numbers look orderly in USDA reports. The reality is messier, involving barrels on trains, fake labels, deleted email trails, and a honey laundering network worth billions annually.

Every jar of honey on the supermarket shelf has a story. Some of those stories are straightforward - bees made honey, a beekeeper harvested it, processors packaged it, retailers sold it. Other stories involve sophisticated international fraud operations that have been running for over two decades despite multiple high-profile prosecutions and billions in anti-dumping duties.

The problem isn't going away. It's too profitable.