Dairy Groups Urge Immediate Passage of U.S.-South Korea Trade Agreement
January 5, 2011
In early December, the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) applauded the successful negotiations between the U.S. and South Korea aimed at resolving areas that had prevented advancement of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement.
The White House announced that the agreement had been finalized, after much hard work during the past several months to resolve issues maximizing the prospects of getting the FTA approved by Congress.
“This FTA will be the most significant for the dairy industry since the agreement with Mexico as part of NAFTA, and it will provide major benefits for U.S. dairy producers” said Jerry Kozak, President and CEO of NMPF. “By opening up a major dairy market to our products, this FTA will deliver, on average, an additional $380 million a year in benefits to U.S. dairy producers during the phase-in period of the agreement.”
Both organizations urged the Administration to send the U.S.-South Korea FTA to Congress for immediate action. NMPF and USDEC also reiterated their support for the U.S. FTAs with Colombia and Panama. The U.S. dairy industry hopes to ultimately see congressional approval of all three pending FTAs, as all would yield meaningful new opportunities for U.S. dairy exports and net benefits for the U.S. dairy industry.
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