U.S. Dairy Supports Launch of New Ag Coalition for USMCA
CONTACTS:
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Jerry Brown, USDEC |
ARLINGTON, VA — The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) co-led today’s launch of “The Agricultural Coalition for USMCA,” an industry-wide effort to support the strengthening and renewal of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
USMCA, which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 2020, mandates a "joint review" in 2026, which allows the countries to consider potential changes to the agreement. Since the stakeholder engagement process began in October 2025, the U.S. dairy industry has spoken to the importance of the agreement, while stressing that certain critical shortcomings must be addressed.
USMCA, which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 2020, mandates a "joint review" in 2026, which allows the countries to consider potential changes to the agreement. Since the stakeholder engagement process began in October 2025, the U.S. dairy industry has spoken to the importance of the agreement, while stressing that certain critical shortcomings must be addressed.
“USMCA has been critical to maintaining strong export demand for U.S. dairy farmers, manufacturers and exporters, providing greater opportunities in the Mexican market in particular,” said Krysta Harden, president and CEO of USDEC. “At the same time, persistent market access barriers, particularly in Canada, limit the full potential of the agreement and must be addressed to ensure that U.S. dairy exporters receive the benefits they were promised.”
“USMCA has helped grow vital export opportunities that support dairy farm incomes across the country,” said Gregg Doud, president and CEO of NMPF. “Unfortunately, Canada has clearly not upheld their end of the deal and Mexico needs to fully implement USMCA commitments to respect our use of common cheese names. We look forward to working with the Administration during the review to ensure our trading partners honor their commitments so the agreement can best deliver for dairy farmers.”
The U.S. dairy industry exported about $3.6 billion in dairy products to Canada and Mexico in 2024, which accounts for about 44 percent of total export value. At the same time, USMCA has fallen short in certain key areas. USDEC and NMPF will continue to fight for several priorities in the review, including through the Coalition:
- Combatting Canada’s continued manipulation of its administration of dairy tariff-rate quotas, denying U.S. exporters the meaningful market access guaranteed under USMCA.
- Tackling Canada’s circumvention of USMCA dairy protein export disciplines, which has resulted in continued offloading of artificially low-priced dairy proteins, undercutting U.S. products in both domestic and global markets.
- Ensuring that Mexico upholds its USMCA commitments to protect common cheese names such as “feta.” The issue is increasingly pressing as European Union trade negotiations seek to restrict the use of generic terms worldwide.
NMPF and USDEC will continue to work with trade negotiators to address USMCA noncompliance areas ahead of the July 1 joint review deadline.
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The U.S. Dairy Export Council is a non-profit, independent membership organization that represents the global trade interests of U.S. dairy producers, proprietary processors and cooperatives, ingredient suppliers and export traders. Its mission is to enhance U.S. global competitiveness and assist the U.S. industry to increase its global dairy ingredient sales and exports of U.S. dairy products. USDEC accomplishes this through programs in market development that build global demand for U.S. dairy products, resolve market access barriers and advance industry trade policy goals. USDEC is supported by staff across the United States and overseas in Mexico, South America, Asia, Middle East and Europe. The U.S. Dairy Export Council prohibits discrimination on the basis of age, disability, national origin, race, color, religion, creed, gender, sexual orientation, political beliefs, marital status, military status, and arrest or conviction record. www.usdec.org.