Dairy Groups Endorse Alexis Taylor Nomination as USDA’s Top Trade Official

May 13, 2022

CONTACTS:

Mark O'Keefe, USDEC
PHONE: (703) 528-4812

ARLINGTON, VA – The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) today praised the nomination of Alexis Taylor to serve as USDA’s Under Secretary of Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs.

“Consumers around the world seek out American dairy products when making their food decisions,” said Krysta Harden, president and CEO of USDEC. “Unfortunately, ensuring our products reach international store shelves is an unending struggle, working to overcome barriers to trade while also striving to create new market access opportunities. With her wealth of leadership experience at both USDA and at the state level, Ms. Taylor is perfectly positioned to serve American farmers, the broader agricultural industry, and American workers throughout the agricultural supply chain in this indispensable role. The Senate should act quickly to confirm this outstanding nominee.”

“This position is essential to the health and well-being of American agriculture, and especially the nation’s dairy farmers, who last year exported over 17% of the milk they produced,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “We are extremely pleased that the Biden Administration has selected such a well-qualified nominee as Ms. Taylor. She has done an excellent job in her prior government service roles and we know will be a strong advocate for U.S. dairy and agriculture as Under Secretary of Trade. We look forward to supporting her throughout the nomination process and working closely with her in her new role once confirmed by the Senate.”

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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.