NMPF Prepares for USMCA Review Process
November 5, 2025
NMPF and USDEC submitted comments Oct. 31 to the office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) in response for the agencies request for input into priorities for the upcoming USMCA 2026 joint review.
The organizations call for the U.S. government to ensure that both Canada and Mexico uphold their dairy-related obligations in the agreement.
This includes addressing Canada’s evasion of its market access commitments through its intentionally limited dairy tariff rate quota administration and circumvention of the USMCA export disciplines intended to limit Canada’s propensity to offload dairy proteins onto the global market at artificially low prices that undercut U.S. producers.
NMPF and USDEC also call on USTR to ensure Mexico fully implements the USMCA side letters pertaining to the protection of common cheese names like “feta,” particularly as the European Union seeks to conclude a trade agreement with Mexico that includes restrictions on the free use of generic terms. NMPF and USDEC remain focused on ensuring that U.S. dairy producers and processors receive the full benefits of U.S. trade agreements and are not subject to distortionary trade practices that limit global market opportunities.
