Free Trade AgreementsFree Trade Agreements Win Congressional Passage; Dairy to Benefit with Greater Market Access: October 12, 2011 NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) applauded the passage by the House and Senate of three free trade agreements (FTAs) with South Korea, Panama and Colombia. “We wish to thank President Obama and his trade team, and leaders in both houses of Congress, who worked hard in recent months to make these favorable votes possible,” said Jerry Kozak, president and chief executive officer of NMPF. Read the full press release.
Ag Organizations Urge Passage of Stalled FTAs: February 14, 2011 Organizations representing a wide range of agricultural industries wrote a joint letter to President Obama to encourage passage of the Colombia and Panama free trade agreements (FTAs). These FTAs were originally supported by the ag organizations in 2007. However, four years of trade benefits for U.S. farmers, ranchers, and food processors had been forfeited by U.S. inaction on these agreements, and competitor countries had taken advantage of this lapse to grab U.S. market shares.
ITC Testimony Outlines Negative Consequences of U.S.-New Zealand FTA: February 18, 2010 In testimony to the International Trade Commission (ITC), NMPF reiterated its opposition to the inclusion of U.S.-New Zealand dairy trade within the regional Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) FTA. The testimony outlined the strong anti-competitive practices within the New Zealand dairy industry and its global manipulation of dairy markets.
NMPF Insists on Total Exclusion of U.S.-New Zealand Dairy Trade in TPP: January 25, 2010 In a letter to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), NMPF again pressed for full exclusion of New Zealand’s dairy products in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement. Although NMPF believed in the importance of balanced trade and in the potential for well-negotiated trade agreements to benefit the U.S. dairy industry as a whole, each agreement must be judged on its own merits.
Dairy Groups Urge USTR to Oppose U.S.-New Zealand TPP Trade Agreement: December 17, 2009 NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk in response to USTR’s notification of Congress that the U.S. intended to proceed with negotiations to create a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement. The TPP talks would include New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Peru, Singapore, Brunei, and Vietnam. NMPF had long stated that a non-WTO trade agreement like this was no place for dealing with the complex and greatly imbalanced dairy trade relationship between the U.S. and New Zealand.
NMPF Issues Brief on Trans-Pacific Partnership FTA: November 23, 2009 These talking points related to the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) FTA between New Zealand, Chile, Singapore, Australia, Peru, Vietnam, and Brunei. Read the full document here.
Dairy Organizations Provide Comments on Korea, Colombia FTAs: September 10, 2009 In response to a request from the U.S. Trade Representative's Office, NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) submitted joint comments on the Korea – U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) and the U.S. – Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (CTPA).
NMPF to Fight Inclusion of New Zealand's Dairy Products in Proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership FTA: September 22, 2008 When the Bush Administration announced on September 22, 2008, that it would pursue a free trade pact with New Zealand (a deal that also included the countries of Chile, Singapore, Brunei), NMPF stated it would seek the full exclusion of New Zealand’s dairy products under this Transpacific free trade agreement because of the New Zealand dairy industry’s unique structure and excessive manipulation of dairy markets globally and in the U.S. Read the full press release here.
Letter to Members of Congress: August 5, 2008 NMPF President and CEO Jerry Kozak sent this letter to members of Congress on August 5, 2008, to voice the dairy industry's strong opposition to any trade agreement with New Zealand. Since the collapse of the WTO talks in Geneva earlier this year, NMPF was concerned that that could cause initiatives for other trade agreements to gain momentum. Read the full letter here. |