The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), the US Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) have called on the Trump Administration, federal government and the governors in northern states to take immediate action in response to Canada’s violation of its trade commitments to the US.

The new Class 7 pricing policy, which is expressly designed to disadvantage US exports to Canada, has forced several dairy companies in Wisconsin and New York to inform many of the supplying farmers that the Canadian market for their exports had dried up. Some farmers supplying these processors have been informed that their milk cannot be collected any longer.

This is a direct consequence of Canada’s National Ingredients Strategy and the new Class 7 milk pricing programme.

Comment

Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF, said: “Canada’s protectionist dairy policies are having the precise effect Canada intended, cutting off US dairy exports of ultra-filtered milk to Canada despite long-standing contracts with American companies.”

He also said: “American dairy companies have invested in new equipment and asked dairy farmers to supply milk to meet the demand in the Canadian market. This access has suddenly disappeared, not because the market is gone but because the Canadian government has reneged on its commitments.”

It is deeply concerning that Canada has chosen to address its internal issues by forcing the US dairy industry to bear the harmful consequences

Tom Vilsack, former Secretary for Agriculture and CEO of USDEC, said: “It is deeply concerning that Canada has chosen to continue down a ‘beggar thy neighbour’ path of addressing its internal issues by forcing the US dairy industry to bear the harmful consequences.”

The US is Canada’s largest export market, accounting for approximately three quarters of Canada’s total exports. The organisations urged both federal and state governments to move swiftly to demonstrate to Canada that the trade door must swing two ways to have a functional relationship.

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