Ohio Congressmen Sign Letter to Trump Re: Canada's Dairy Policies
The Ohio Dairy Producers Association has been working with the National Milk Producers Federation to address a significant and growing concern to America's agriculture sector: Canada's protectionist dairy policies.
Canada habitually uses policies tools to negatively impact dairy trade. Its latest effort involves the use of targeted milk pricing programs to: 1) thwart U.S. dairy exports to Canada; and 2) help Canada dispose of excess skim milk powder on world markets in ways that likely violate its trade commitments. This hurts companies selling to Canada and those exporting milk powder to markets around the world.
On behalf of Ohio's dairy farmers, ODPA encouraged members of Congress to sign a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to insist that Canada comply with its dairy trade commitments, including those under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
ODPA helped to secure support from five of Ohio's U.S. Congressmen:
- Rep. Bob Gibbs (OH-7)
- Rep. Jim Renacci (OH-16)
- Rep. Steve Stivers (OH-15)
- Rep. Pat Tiberi (OH-12)
- Rep. Brad Wenstrup (OH-2)
ODPA has also asked Congress to support a letter to the office of United States Trade Representative (USTR) to enforce current law and oppose Canadian policies that disrupt global milk powder markets and directly hurt American exports.
How does this impact Ohio?
This issue doesn't just affect New York, Minnesota and Wisconsin farmers - it affects all dairy farmers. The U.S. dairy sector relies on its exports to survive. In 2016, the industry exported approximately 15% of its milk production, worth roughly $5 billion. To our NAFTA partners alone, the United States exported $1.2 billion of dairy products to Mexico and $631 million to Canada.
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