NMPF’s Trade team offers an issues update for the 2020 NMPF Virtual Town Hall.
Tag: EU agriculture trade
U.S. Dairy Exports to Benefit from New USDA-FDA Partnership
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will establish an interagency process to further support exports of U.S. dairy products. Both agencies play critical roles in facilitating foreign sales of American-made dairy products, which is recognized and appreciated by the U.S. dairy industry. This MOU will draw upon the expertise of FDA as well as USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) and Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) to deepen and streamline their work together on the issues facing dairy exports to the benefit of U.S. dairy farmers and manufacturers.
The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) worked with both agencies to advance this new approach to dairy export collaboration. NMPF and USDEC deeply appreciate the USDA and FDA’s dedication to drafting this new MOU to facilitate U.S. dairy exports and their ongoing collaboration with the dairy industry. Foreign competitors are making advances in international markets, making efforts to expand overseas opportunities for U.S. dairy critical to the long-term health of U.S. dairy farmers and processors.
“Today’s announcement of an interagency MOU on dairy trade between USDA and FDA is the result of years of conversation and efforts between stakeholders within the U.S. dairy industry and the U.S. government to establish consistent guidance on tackling the rising number of export challenges facing our industry. This MOU will help our industry continue to grow in an increasingly competitive global environment,” said Tom Vilsack, president and CEO of USDEC.
“This new partnership ensures that the staff at USDA and FDA are working together in the most efficient way possible to lower barriers for our farmer’s dairy exports. Increasing U.S. dairy exports will strengthen the health of our farmers and rural communities, which is more important than ever as America’s dairy industry faces new and unprecedented challenges. We appreciate all of the hard work from both agencies and stand ready to support the USDA and FDA’s commitment to open new doors for U.S. dairy exports,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF.
CCFN’s Castaneda Discusses Why Cheese Names Should Be Left Alone
Jaime Castaneda, the executive director of the Consortium for Common Food Names, discusses why nontariff barriers against cheeses that use common terms like havarti in their names harm American farmers, limit choices for consumers and have put farming and manufacturing jobs across an essential sector at risk. The chat on the “Adams on Agriculture” podcast comes in the wake of a Senate letter last week in which 61 U.S. senators asked for more protection of feta, parmesan and other common food names.
NMPF’s Morris on EU Dairy Tariffs
Tariffs on EU Dairy Products on the Table
NMPF sought to highlight the deep imbalance in U.S.-EU dairy trade by supporting the U.S. Trade Representative’s proposal to impose retaliatory tariffs on European dairy imports if Europe continues to flout its WTO subsidy commitments.
Europe has been found to have doled out unfair aircraft subsidies to Airbus by a World Trade Organization court, with damages to U.S. business of $11 billion, according to U.S. estimates. The WTO is assessing the size of the retaliatory tariffs it is willing to authorize the U.S. to levy against EU exports should the EU not comply with the WTO ruling. USTR anticipates a decision this summer.
European dairy products feature prominently on USTR’s intended retaliation list, a smart move according to National Milk Producers Federation President and CEO Jim Mulhern.
“We have a unique opportunity to make a big dent in the dairy market access gap we face with Europe,” Mulhern told USTR during testimony on May 15. “Including EU cheeses, yogurt, and butter on this list, as USTR has proposed, is entirely warranted, and we would encourage you to add additional EU dairy-related tariff lines,” he said. Doing so “would bring increased attention to the gross inequities that currently define our dairy trading relationship.”
The United States is currently running a $1.6 billion dairy trade deficit with Europe. A complex web of EU tariffs and nontariff obstacles, including Geographic Indication restrictions, are largely to blame.
“It is essential that America deliver a clear and powerful message across the pond,” Mulhern concluded. “Subsidies and barriers that handicap U.S. businesses in the global marketplace will not be tolerated. And the days of trade deficits induced by unfair trade practices are coming to an end.”
NMPF’s Morris on Dairy Trade Progress
NMPF Supports USTR Proposal to Target EU Dairy in Airbus Retaliation
ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Trade Representative’s Office (USTR) should slap tariffs on dairy shipments from Europe in response to the $11 billion in damage EU Airbus subsidies caused the United States, National Milk Producers Federation President and CEO Jim Mulhern said today in testimony before a USTR panel.
The World Trade Organization recently found that Europe’s large civil aircraft subsidies were against international trade rules and permitted the United States to levy duties on EU products until Europe comes into compliance.
“We have a unique opportunity to make a big dent in the dairy market access gap we face with Europe. Including EU cheeses, yogurt, and butter on this list, as USTR has proposed, is entirely warranted, and we would encourage you to add additional EU dairy-related tariff lines,” Mulhern said. Doing so “would bring increased attention to the gross inequities that currently define our dairy trading relationship,” he said.
The United States is currently running a $1.6 billion dairy trade deficit with Europe. A complex web of EU tariffs and nontariff obstacles are to blame, Mulhern said.
“Simply put, we are largely being blocked from the EU market despite being a trusted and proven dairy supplier to the rest of the world,” he said, singling out Europe’s use of Geographic Indication requirements that target common products carrying geographic names like parmesan, feta, and muenster cheeses. Europe blocks sales of these everyday products from the United States and is aggressively pressuring other countries to do the same.
“It is essential that America deliver a clear and powerful message across the pond,” Mulhern said. “Subsidies and barriers that handicap U.S. businesses in the global marketplace will not be tolerated. And the days of trade deficits induced by unfair trade practices are coming to an end.”
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The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. NMPF’s member cooperatives produce the majority of U.S. milk, making NMPF the voice of dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more, visit www.nmpf.org.
NMPF’s Bleiberg on Dairy Hearing
NMPF Applauds House Subcommittee for Putting Dairy First; DMC Decision Tool Now Online
ARLINGTON, Va. – As key milestones are being met in offering much-needed financial relief for dairy producers, the National Milk Producers Federation today thanked the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture for choosing dairy as the subject of its first hearing this year.
Lawmakers heard a diverse array of witnesses who provided important perspectives on the state of U.S. dairy, which is in its fifth year of low prices and its second year of trade-related hardships. In their opening statements:
- Minnesota dairy farmer Sadie Frericks spoke of the importance of the new Dairy Margin Coverage program as a risk management tool as her family weathers economic challenges;
- California Dairies, Inc. President and CEO Andrei Mikhalevsky provided an overview of dairy’s trade issues, a rising concern as exports are crucial to increasing dairy demand;
- Pennsylvania dairy farmer Dave Smith, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association, discussed additional challenges, including the importance of milk consumption in schools and the need to combat mislabeled fake milks in the marketplace.
- New York dairy farmer Michael McMahon gave voice to the dairy industry’s unique workforce challenges, including the lack of a viable guest worker program that covers year-round workers
- and Dr. Scott Brown, Director of Strategic Partnerships for the University of Missouri’s College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, provided economic insight.
“Dairy’s challenges reverberate through the U.S. economy, and it’s appropriate that lawmakers put dairy first on its 2019 agenda,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “We thank all of the farmers and industry leaders who spoke out. We also commend subcommittee Chairman Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA) and ranking member Rep. David Rouzer (R-NC), as well as Agriculture Committee Chairman Rep. Collin Peterson, (D-MN), who made helpful opening statements at the hearing, for their attention to dairy’s urgent needs.”
The NMPF continues to encourage farmers to prepare for Dairy Margin Coverage signup, scheduled to begin June 17. The USDA’s decision tool, designed to help farmers determine their appropriate coverage level, is now online here. Later this week, letters will be sent to producers informing them of their premium refunds under the previous Margin Protection Program.
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The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. NMPF’s member cooperatives produce the majority of U.S. milk, making NMPF the voice of dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more, visit www.nmpf.org.
U.S. Special 301 Report Criticizes Europe for Wrongly Targeting U.S. Dairy Exports
U.S. dairy officials today lauded the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office for denouncing Europe’s anti-trade agenda against common-name food products and pursuing avenues to preserve U.S. export access rights.
The U.S. Special 301 Report, issued yesterday by USTR, categorically rejects EU policies that seek to intentionally disadvantage U.S. suppliers in global markets by blocking their ability to use common names such as fontina, gorgonzola, asiago and feta cheeses.
“The EU pressures trading partners to prevent all producers, other than in certain EU regions, from using certain product names,” read the report. “This is despite the fact that these terms are the common names for products and produced in countries around the world.”
Europe’s actions infringe on the rights of U.S. producers and imposes unwarranted market barriers to U.S. goods, according to the USTR.
“Europe has disadvantaged the U.S. dairy industry for too long by abusing geographical indications (GI) policies,” said Tom Vilsack, president and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council. “We face unfair barriers around the world because of Europe. USTR should be commended for recognizing the problem, and we look forward to working with them to rectify it.”
Vilsack urged the USTR to prioritize securing binding commitments from America’s current trading partners to prevent future GI restrictions. The market access preservation commitments secured with Mexico as part of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, he said, provide a positive precedent to build upon.
Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation, also urged the Administration to take into account the lopsided dairy trade imbalance between the United States and Europe in formulating policies to tackle the EU’s predatory attacks on U.S. dairy exports.
Europe sent $1.8 billion in dairy goods to the U.S. market in 2018 but only imported $145 million of U.S. products, even though America is a major dairy supplier to the rest of the world.
“Trade is supposed to be a two-way street,” Mulhern noted. “America’s struggling U.S. dairy producers deserve a lot better than the current one-way trade relationship with the European Union whereby they sell us a billion dollars of cheese each year while erecting walls to our ability to compete head to head with them overseas.”
Pressure Mounts for EU to End Agriculture Trade Deficit
With policies that include both high tariffs and onerous non-tariff barriers to trade, such as complex and excessive import requirements and bans on the use of common food names, it’s no surprise that the European Union would want to keep agriculture out of negotiations for a free-trade agreement with the U.S. NMPF and its congressional allies are working to ensure that doesn’t happen, pointing to a lopsided trade imbalance in dairy as one reason that EU hypocrisy must end before broader trade progress occurs.
The EU exports approximately $1.5 billion in dairy to the United States each year, compared to $100 million in U.S. shipments to the EU. Wanting to lock in that advantage – the product of protectionist policies — the EU is already insisting that discussing agriculture is off the table before formal negotiations begin on any trade deal. NMPF and industry stakeholders are making it clear that an “agriculture-free” model for a free-trade agreement would be unacceptable and that any agreement with the EU must address the above-mentioned drivers of the U.S. dairy deficit.
Congress has taken notice as well.
Representatives Ron Kind (Wis.), Jackie Walorski (Ind.), Virginia Foxx (NC) and Angie Craig (Minn.) led a letter to the USTR dated March 14 emphasizing that agriculture must be included in upcoming negotiations. The letter attracted signatures from 114 members of Congress who wrote that “agriculture is the source of a great number of trade barriers and irritants in the U.S.-EU trading relationship. Thus, an agreement with the EU that does not address trade in agriculture would be, in our eyes, unacceptable.”
NMPF conducted outreach to House members allied with dairy to help secure support for this important message to U.S. negotiators. The organization will continue working to ensure that any potential trade deal with the EU is focused on narrowing the U.S. dairy trade deficit with the EU, not on worsening it.
