Tag: USMCA

U.S. Dairy Exports to Benefit from New USDA-FDA Partnership

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

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.

NMPF’s Castaneda Says U.S. Needs to Be Careful in Mexican Trade Issues

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

NMPF Senior Vice President for Policy Strategy and International Trade Jaime Castaneda says the U.S. needs to be careful in how it handles concerns about trade with Mexico of seasonal agricultural products, given the ripple effect Mexican trade has across agriculture. Castaneda also discussed the USMCA trade agreement, dairy sales to China and other issues on the “Adams on Agriculture” podcast.

NMPF’s Morris Says USMCA Must Be Protected

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

NMPF’s vice president for trade, Shawna Morris, talks about the importance of enforcing the dairy provisions of the USMCA trade agreement, including access to Canada’s market and the protection of common cheese names in Mexico, on the Adams on Agriculture podcast.

U.S. Dairy Industry Praises Administration and Congress for Final Passage of USMCA

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

ARLINGTON, VA – The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) cheered today’s Senate vote paving the way for the President’s signature of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

Looking ahead, USDEC and NMPF urged U.S. officials to carefully monitor Canada and Mexico’s USMCA commitments once the trade deal takes effect to ensure its provisions are enforced accordingly so that the dairy industry is able to reap the full benefits of the agreement negotiated by Ambassador Lighthizer and the negotiating teams at USTR and USDA.

“USMCA makes important strides to break down trade barriers, opening the door to new opportunities and supporting the flow of high-quality American dairy products to two valuable export markets,” said Tom Vilsack, president and CEO of USDEC. “The strong enforcement measures included in the final agreement give officials the tools necessary to hold our trade partners accountable and ensure the gains secured by USMCA are completely realized. We are grateful to the Administration for the sizable accomplishments secured in USMCA on dairy. With this trade deal complete, negotiators can now turn their attention to other key markets around the world in order to gain further ground for U.S. dairy.”

“America’s dairy farmers are celebrating today’s bipartisan vote as a win. Under President Trump’s leadership, USTR and USDA negotiated an agreement that will deliver a more certain future for our dairy farmers and rural economy,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “The U.S. must now remain diligent and proactively work with Canada and Mexico to implement USMCA in both letter and spirit. Full compliance is essential to achieving more fair trade with Canada and protecting American-made cheeses in Mexico.”

USMCA fundamentally changes Canada’s trade-distorting policies, reforms Canada’s controversial dairy pricing system and provides exclusive Canadian market access for U.S. farmers and manufacturers. According to the International Trade Commission, U.S. dairy exports are projected to increase by more than $314 million a year. USMCA also strengthens the relationship between Mexico and the U.S. and establishes new protections for products that rely on common cheese names, such as parmesan and feta.

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Dairy Defined Podcast: Mooney Speaks at Annual Meeting

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

 

(Note: NMPF’s Dairy Defined podcast explores today’s dairy farms and industry using high-quality data and podcast-style interviews to explain current dairy issues and dispel myths.)

ARLINGTON, Va. – U.S. dairy farmers have been through challenging times, but they’re ready to face the challenges of trade, the environment, climate and changing consumer tastes, said Randy Mooney, a Missouri dairy farmer and chairman of the National Milk Producers Federation. Mooney spoke this morning at the organization’s annual meeting, this in New Orleans.

“Dairy farmers play an important role in society. We help preserve communities,” he said. “Like all of you, I’m proud to be a dairy farmer, producing the most nutritious product in the world.”

To listen to the full podcast, click here. You can also find the Dairy Defined podcast on Spotify and SoundCloud. Broadcast outlets may use the MP3 file. Please attribute information to NMPF.

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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 more than two-thirds of U.S. milk, making NMPF dairy’s voice on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more, visit www.nmpf.org.

Dairy Farmers Count on Congress to Pass USMCA

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The push to complete the U.S.–Mexico–Canada agreement (USMCA) received a boost in June when Mexico became the first country to ratify the trade agreement. Still, Washington has yet to take action, making collaboration key as NMPF works with other stakeholders to get the agreement over the finish line.

The U.S. Trade Representative’s Office is working with leading members of Congress to hash out a way forward, specifically focusing on concerns expressed by Democrats to guarantee sufficient Congressional support. Complementing that work, about 50 dairy farmers and dairy-cooperative staff took NMPF’s message in support of USMCA’s passage directly to Capitol Hill in June. Their on-the-ground advocacy was dovetailed with NMPF’s work to educate policymakers on the importance of this trade agreement to the dairy industry.

Also last month, NMPF joined forces with the U.S. Dairy Export Council and the International Dairy Foods Association to write to members of Congress from top dairy-producing states, asking them to “please pursue a USMCA vote without delay” on behalf of the dairy farms and businesses they represent.

“Solidifying and expanding trade opportunities abroad through USMCA will improve the prospects of dairy farms here at home,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “In the midst of uncertainty surrounding our trade relationships and yet another year of meager milk prices, the United States lost an average of seven dairy farms a day in 2018. The passage of USMCA will instill a renewed sense of optimism in our dairy farmers.”

USMCA will help bolster the U.S. dairy industry by locking in existing access to our key export market in Mexico while increasing trade opportunities in Canada and establishing new trade rules to discipline Canada’s trade-distorting dairy policies, discourage unscientific barriers to trade and preserve the rights of common cheese name users. U.S. government estimates calculate that USMCA will increase U.S. dairy exports to Mexico and Canada by $277 million once it is fully implemented.

Tariff Threat Avoided

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The importance of committing to solidifying dependable trading conditions with our biggest export market – Mexico – was driven home in early June as President Donald Trump threatened to impose escalating tariffs against all Mexican products in an unrelated dispute over immigration. Numerous groups, including NMPF, swiftly spoke out against the proposal, and late on June 7th the White House announced it would not proceed with the tariffs.

In a statement issued the day after the President threatened to impose tariffs, NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern warned that “New tariffs against Mexico are unlikely to secure the border, but judging from reaction on Capitol Hill, they may very well jeopardize the chances of passing the USMCA, a key White House priority and one that’s crucial for future agricultural prosperity. Re-escalating trade tensions only harms farmers further, just when they were seeing glimmers of hope.” Over the course of the intervening week when the prospect of tariffs loomed, NMPF took the threat of upheaval to this critical market seriously, arming Young Cooperators meeting with dozens of Congressional offices with talking points urging maintenance of open trade with Mexico and joining onto a joint statement with others in the agriculture and business communities.

NMPF estimates that producers have lost at least $2.3 billion in revenues through March due to higher tariffs by Mexico and China against U.S. dairy, which have lowered milk prices for all producers.

Down Go Steel Tariffs, Up Goes USMCA’s Chances

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Dairy producers got a dose of much-needed good news in May when North American trading partners reached agreement to end a testy tariff dispute. The trade deal announced May 17 put an end to the Section 232 metal duties that the United States levied against Mexico and Canada last year. In return, Mexico and Canada agreed to end retaliatory tariffs against several U.S. products, including cheese and yogurt. Economists with Informa Agribusiness Consulting had estimated that Mexico’s retaliatory tariffs, left unchecked, would have cost dairy farmers nearly $1.2 billion in lost revenue by the end of 2019.

“Dairy farmers have much to celebrate, with the resumption of normal business with our largest export partner,” Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation, said. Congress’s next step should be “to vote on USMCA and quickly ratify it,” he said.

Dairy quickly capitalized on the USMCA momentum, with NMPF joining with the U.S. Dairy Export Council and the International Dairy Foods Association to inform Congress in a letter sent June 10 endorsing swift USMCA approval. The next day NMPF joined with almost a thousand other food and agricultural organizations and companies, including many NMPF members, to send a unified message to the Hill urging movement on the trade agreement.

USMCA modernizes the North American Free Trade Agreement, maintains U.S. dairy sales into Mexico, expands dairy market access in Canada, and reforms many nontariff barriers to trade. Dairy sales to Mexico and Canada should grow by a total of $277 million once USMCA is fully implemented, according to U.S. government estimates.

Dairy exports to Mexico totaled $1.4 billion last year, or 80 percent of Mexico’s total imports, and are poised for further growth under the open trade conditions that USMCA solidifies. Negotiations of the trade deal were completed in November but requires congressional approval. NMPF and its partners at the U.S. Dairy Export Council have pushed for USMCA ratification through a series of Capitol Hill meetings, briefings, special events, and letters to lawmakers.

Dairy Takes Positive Steps Forward, But Trade Tremors Abound

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

It would be nice to have time to savor real progress, but that seems such a luxury when turbulence is the new normal.

The long overdue end to Mexico’s retaliatory tariffs against U.S. cheese exports last month was a positive development, one of several indicators suggesting that dairy’s fortunes may be improving. But as has often been the case, even that gain was soon thrown into doubt, suggesting that much work remains before we can feel confident we’ve turned the corner on reestablishing a dependable trading relationship with Mexico.

First, the good news: Removing the tariffs, a barrier that has harmed trade with our largest international partner, is important progress in improving dairy’s fortunes. The end of the Mexican retaliatory tariffs put the U.S. fully back as the preferred supplier to what last year was a $1.4 billion dairy market. The May 17 agreement ending U.S. tariffs against Canadian and Mexican metals that prompted the retaliation in the first place shows that, for all the frustrations farmers have felt in the ongoing trade wars, progress can occur.

The end of the tariffs also improves prospects for passing the USMCA trade treaty. Mexico has revised its labor laws, which should help gain support for the agreement in the U.S. Congress, and Canada is vowing “full steam ahead” for ratification. Meanwhile, producer margins are improving, and a better safety net is arriving with Dairy Margin Coverage Program signup on pace to begin June 17, giving producers several reasons for greater optimism about dairy’s economic fortunes.

But the threat of new tariffs President Trump raised in early June, meant to change Mexico’s behavior on immigration issues that are unrelated to trade or agriculture, raised the specter of renewed retaliation. With the resolution of that threat late last week, we are hoping that USMCA momentum, temporarily slowed, may revive and that we can again focus on repairing and expanding U.S. dairy’s relationship with its largest customer. To help build that groundswell of support in Congress, NMPF sent a joint dairy letter on USMCA, together with USDEC and IDFA, to two dozen of the top dairy state delegations in Congress. A day later NMPF joined with almost a thousand other food and agricultural organizations and companies, including many NMPF members, to send a unified message to the Hill urging movement on the trade agreement.

At the same time, turbulence continues with China. New U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods, the result of derailed negotiations  between the world’s two largest economies (and the third-biggest importer of U.S. milk), are likely to invite further retaliation, compounding the sharp drop in dairy exports we’ve already seen to China.

To ease the blow for producers, the Trump Administration, through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has promised to help producers across agricultural commodities to lessen the near-term economic damage from the trade war with up to $16 billion in a new round of aid.

We at NMPF have been in discussions with the department, suggesting how to target limited resources to best ameliorate the damage.

But we don’t yet know what will be in the assistance package, which means yet more question marks; we’ll keep pushing hard for assistance that mitigates the more than $2.3 billion in damages dairy farmers have faced because of the trade war. But no assistance package can completely capture the full effects of the market uncertainty, interrupted relationships and markets lost to unencumbered competitors who are seizing market share. That’s why we certainly hope the aid package isn’t just as fair as possible – we hope it’s the last one farmers need.

Significant work remains on numerous trade policy fronts to help dairy producers fully recover. In addition to working for USMCA passage, we will continue urging the White House to resolve the renewed tariff spat with China and conclude a bilateral agreement that lowers tensions and improves market access. We also need swift and robust progress in trade discussions with Japan, which the president has promised, so that U.S. dairy interests are not further punished by tariffs and TRQs that each year let our European and Oceania competitors gain ground due to the terms of their trade treaties with Japan.

These steps are necessary to provide certainty, opportunities and improved prices for U.S. dairy producers, something badly needed after the economic turmoil of recent years. If dairy truly is getting back on its feet – and positive signs are emerging – then the next step will be to start moving forward. The end of Mexico’s retaliatory tariffs put us on firmer ground. We can move ahead, despite the tremors that continue to shake things up.

 

 

 

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