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U.S. Dairy Testifies on State of Maritime Supply Chain
CONTACTS:
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Luke Waring, USDEC |
ARLINGTON, VA – Tony Rice, Senior Director of Trade Policy at the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC), testified today before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform and Antitrust on the maritime supply chain challenges faced by the U.S. dairy industry.
The U.S. dairy industry exported $9.6 billion and three million metric tons of cheeses, milk powders, whey proteins, and other dairy products last year, making reliable transportation vital to its economic wellbeing. Yet American dairy exporters have little choice but to rely on a small number of ocean carrier options, almost all of which are foreign owned.
"Dairy farmers milk their cows 365 days a year,” said Rice. “When export shipments are delayed, cancelled, or become more expensive to move, the disruptions ripple back through the supply chain and ultimately affect farm income.”
Rice drew on lessons from the pandemic-induced supply chain crisis, when severe delays, routinely cancelled bookings and unprecedented port congestion disrupted cargo movements and cost U.S. dairy producers billions in unexpected costs and lost sales opportunities. While the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 addressed several issues related to unfair fees, Rice highlighted that dairy exporters in the U.S. continue to face operational uncertainty when bookings are rejected, port calls are skipped or receiving windows shift without explanation.
To address these challenges, the U.S. dairy industry called for greater investment in the domestic maritime sector to expand American shipbuilding capacity, robust Federal Maritime Commission oversight of the global maritime carrier marketplace and increased transparency from ocean carriers on booking decisions.
“We recognize the importance of efficient global shipping networks,” said Rice. “Our concern is ensuring that those networks work for American dairy exporters as well as they work for global carriers.”
The U.S. dairy industry exported $9.6 billion and three million metric tons of cheeses, milk powders, whey proteins, and other dairy products last year, making reliable transportation vital to its economic wellbeing. Yet American dairy exporters have little choice but to rely on a small number of ocean carrier options, almost all of which are foreign owned.
"Dairy farmers milk their cows 365 days a year,” said Rice. “When export shipments are delayed, cancelled, or become more expensive to move, the disruptions ripple back through the supply chain and ultimately affect farm income.”
Rice drew on lessons from the pandemic-induced supply chain crisis, when severe delays, routinely cancelled bookings and unprecedented port congestion disrupted cargo movements and cost U.S. dairy producers billions in unexpected costs and lost sales opportunities. While the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 addressed several issues related to unfair fees, Rice highlighted that dairy exporters in the U.S. continue to face operational uncertainty when bookings are rejected, port calls are skipped or receiving windows shift without explanation.
To address these challenges, the U.S. dairy industry called for greater investment in the domestic maritime sector to expand American shipbuilding capacity, robust Federal Maritime Commission oversight of the global maritime carrier marketplace and increased transparency from ocean carriers on booking decisions.
“We recognize the importance of efficient global shipping networks,” said Rice. “Our concern is ensuring that those networks work for American dairy exporters as well as they work for global carriers.”
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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.