Tag: dairy exports

NMPF Presses U.S. Government to Pursue Market Access Opportunities

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF continues to identify and advocate for pathways that increase foreign market access for U.S. dairy while the Biden Administration remains slow to pursue comprehensive trade agreements.

The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), a limited trade contract intended to strengthen trade relations, supply chain resiliency, and cybersecurity in the region, may offer the broadest non-FTA opportunity to advance that goal for now. The framework under development touts a “fair and resilient” trade module focused primarily on addressing nontariff issues.

NMPF, together with USDEC, is working to ensure the dairy industry has a hand in shaping its development as the effort gains momentum. The Senate Finance Committee held a March 15 hearing on the framework, where NMPF helped members with questions for  Sharon Bomer Lauritsen, who testified on behalf of the agricultural industry, to draw out how dairy market barriers could best be addressed in the IPEF.

Several of the recommendations Bomer offered echoed those NMPF shared with USTR in early February in a confidential submission outlining various dairy market access priorities including reductions by our trading partners of their World Trade Organization tariffs.

NMPF also worked with a coalition of agricultural organizations to generate support for a March 30 bipartisan Congressional letter to Ambassador Tai and Secretary Vilsack, urging the administration to make agriculture a priority in IPEF negotiations. Led by Reps. Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) and Jodey Arrington (R-TX), together with Jim Costa (D-CA), Dusty Johnson (R-SD), Ron Kind (D-WI) and Randy Feenstra (R-IA), the letter called on the administration to use IPEF to address barriers to U.S. agricultural exports, create mutually agreed-upon regulatory reforms that would benefit U.S. dairy and others in American agriculture, “include efforts to reduce tariffs on U.S. agricultural exports” and more.

NMPF, USDEC Commend Congressional Progress on Ocean Shipping Reform Act

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) lauded today’s passage by the Senate Commerce Committee of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA). The approval establishes Senate committee support for action to address shipping supply chain challenges as Congress prepares to commence conference procedures on the Senate-passed U.S. Innovation & Competition Act (USICA) and the House-passed America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology, and Economic Strength (COMPETES) Act in the coming weeks. The House COMPETES Act includes the House-passed version of OSRA.

“Today’s action by the Senate Commerce Committee brings the Ocean Shipping Reform Act one step closer to passage,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “Export supply chain issues continue to pose immense challenges to dairy exporters, which is why this legislation remains so critical as part of a broad-based approach to tackling those problems. Dairy farmers appreciate the leadership of OSRA sponsors Senators Klobuchar and Thune as well as Commerce Chair Cantwell and Ranking Member Wicker on this issue. We urge the Senate and House to expeditiously advance the conference process and ensure that the final text includes a strong focus on the needs of American agricultural exporters.”

“America’s dairy farmers and manufacturers are delighted to see the Ocean Shipping Reform Act continue to move forward and thank the many Senate Commerce Committee members who supported its approval today,” said Krysta Harden, president and CEO of USDEC. “Dairy exporters need the changes OSRA would deliver. As such, we encourage Congress to swiftly move the COMPETES/USICA conference work forward and send a bill that prioritizes the export shipping needs of U.S. agricultural exporters to the President’s desk.”

NMPF, USDEC Praise Partnership to Ease Port Congestion in Northwest

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) praised the launch today of a new partnership between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA) aimed at easing port congestion and restoring more reliable shipping access for U.S. agricultural exporters.

The initiative builds on the Biden administration’s ongoing efforts to address the export supply chain crisis and USDA’s leadership in prioritizing the needs of agricultural exporters. USDA and NWSA will enhance access to a 49-acre “pop-up” site in Seattle to provide staging ground storage for both dry and refrigerated containerized agricultural exports to facilitate their quick loading onto shipping vessels destined for overseas markets.

A similar “pop-up” site was launched at the Port of Oakland on March 1 and has helped improve conditions at that port. USDA and NWSA are announcing the partnership today in an event featuring Stan Ryan, president and CEO of Darigold, an NMPF and USDEC member cooperative and a driving force behind the supply chain improvement.

“Dairy farmers and manufacturers celebrate today’s great news of an additional ‘pop-up’ site focused on helping to deliver relief for U.S. agricultural exporters grappling with severe supply chain challenges. This will provide meaningful assistance in getting their high-quality products to overseas customers. We appreciate Secretary Vilsack’s focus on continuing to find additional ways to tackle this concern,” said Krysta Harden, president and CEO of USDEC. “This is an important new tool as the Biden administration and Congress work together to find multiple pathways to address this complex issue, including passage of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act.”

“Today’s announcement of a new agriculture-focused ‘pop-up’ site in Seattle, coupled with likely Senate advancement of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act next week, show momentum building on tackling the export supply chain challenges in increasingly meaningful ways. That’s critical for dairy farmers and their exporting cooperatives,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “We’re thankful to Secretary Vilsack for his leadership on this topic that’s so crucial to dairy. We urge the administration to build on today’s great news by expanding further to inland locations as well. We urge Congress to move forward swiftly with legislative solutions to the supply chain crunch by passing the Ocean Shipping Reform Act and advancing immigration reform to address the growing labor challenges facing our dairy farms and plants.”

Dairy Joins Problem Solvers Caucus Roundtable on Supply Chain Snarls

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) joined the U.S. House of Representatives’ bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus in a roundtable today to discuss additional steps Congress could take to address the ongoing export supply chain crisis facing American exports, including dairy.

Jaime Castaneda, executive vice president for policy development and strategy for USDEC and NMPF, spoke during a panel discussion moderated by Reps. Jim Costa (D-CA) and Dusty Johnson (R-SD) to identify the challenges exporters are facing in securing container and vessel space, unprecedented congestion, and record fees to ship products to international customers.

“A conservative estimate of the supply chain challenges for dairy exporters in 2021 is over $1.5 billion in higher direct costs, reduced value, and lost sales,” Castaneda noted in his remarks. “If this continues, we risk losing ground to our competitors in highly competitive foreign markets, which has ripple effects on the paychecks of American dairy farmers and the thousands of workers who support the export supply chain.”

“The Problem Solvers Caucus is known for its laser-like focus on delivering practical legislative solutions. We’re proud to be part of that process today in identifying additional areas where Congress can act to help alleviate the supply chain snarls that have been limiting U.S. dairy producers’ ability to export,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “We thank Representatives Costa and Johnson for their continued leadership on advancing bipartisan solutions to bring about some much-needed relief to American dairy and agricultural exporters.”

“Last year proved to be a very difficult and unsustainable environment for U.S. dairy exporters, as supply chain challenges risked American agricultural exporters’ reputation as reliable suppliers. I have heard directly from customers their intent to switch suppliers to our competitors solely because of these congestion issues,” said Krysta Harden, president and CEO of USDEC. “We want to thank Representatives Costa and Johnson for their bipartisan leadership in leading today’s discussion on these issues and for their invitation to be part of today’s discussion. Their work continues to be essential to American farmers and the entire agricultural value chain.”

Other organizations speaking at the event included the American Trucking Association, National Retail Federation, Agricultural Transportation Coalition, and the National Association of Manufacturers.

U.S. Dairy Endorses Ocean Shipping Antitrust Enforcement Act

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

In response to last week’s introduction of the Ocean Shipping Antitrust Enforcement Act, USDEC and NMPF released the following statements:

Krysta Harden, U.S. Dairy Export Council president & CEO:
The U.S. Dairy Export Council thanks Representatives Costa, Smith, Garamendi and Johnson for introducing the bipartisan Ocean Shipping Antitrust Enforcement Act last week. U.S. dairy exporters experience a litany of unfair practices from foreign-owned ocean carriers – including unprecedented shipping rates, fees often incurred out of the exporters’ control, intentional lack of transparency, and continually rolled bookings. Due to the high concentration of power in the largely foreign-owned shipping industry, American dairy exporters have little option other than to accept these unwarranted fees and delays as a business expense. We commend the introduction of this important legislation to revoke the antitrust immunity that these shipping lines exploit at the expense of American producers and consumers, and we urge Congress to expeditiously pass this measure into law.

Jim Mulhern, National Milk Producers Federation president & CEO:
At a time when ocean carriers have been enjoying record profits, U.S. dairy producers have been bearing the brunt of the export supply chain crisis, with over $1.5 billion in added costs and lost sales in 2021 alone. We welcome the introduction of the Ocean Shipping Antitrust Enforcement Act that would reign in the enormous power foreign-owned shipping lines wield over American exporters. It has been evident over the past two years that ocean carriers do not share the interest of U.S. producers and are willing to break contracts and cancel shipments without warning. International customers want U.S. dairy products, but American dairy farmers are struggling to meet deadlines due to carrier behavior and justify the increased expense of paying exorbitant fees. This puts at risk key relationships with buyers around the world. NMPF encourages swift passage of this bipartisan legislation to put a halt to these unreasonable practices.

February CWT-Assisted Dairy Export Sales Continue Strong Start to 2022

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

CWT member cooperatives secured 105 contracts in February, adding 14.9 million pounds of American-type cheeses, 12.2 million pounds of whole milk powder and 1.4 million pounds of cream cheese to CWT-assisted sales in 2022. These products will go customers in Asia, Central America, Middle East-North Africa, Oceania and South America, and will be shipped from February through August 2022.

CWT-assisted 2022 dairy product sales contracts year-to-date total 29.9 million pounds of American-type cheese, 3.1 million pounds of cream cheese and 14.1 million pounds of whole milk powder. This brings the total milk equivalent for the year to 402 million pounds on a milkfat basis. Over the last 12 months, CWT assisted sales are the equivalent of 1.483 billion pounds of milk on a milkfat basis.

Exporting dairy products is critical to the viability of dairy farmers and their cooperatives across the country. Whether or not a cooperative is actively engaged in exporting cheese, butter, anhydrous milkfat, cream cheese, or whole milk powder, moving products into world markets is essential. CWT provides a means to move domestic dairy products to overseas markets by helping to overcome U.S. dairy’s trade disadvantages.

NMPF Campaigning for Quick Senate Action on Ocean Shipping Reform Act

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF’s work to advance key export supply chain legislation made significant progress with the Senate introduction of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA) on Feb. 3, companion legislation to a House-passed measure meant to take strides to alleviate the supply chain crisis that is impeding dairy exports.

The bill introduced by key dairy allies Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Sen. John Thune (R-SD) comes after months of NMPF effort. While there are some differences between the two bills, the trade policy team continues its work with the Senate to strengthen the measure further as it advances through Congress.

NMPF has launched a grassroots campaign to demonstrate the bill’s support among a broad base of constituents. NMPF members, friends and allies can ask their Senators to ensure its passage here.

As part of NMPF’s multi-prong strategy to alleviate the export supply chain congestion, the trade policy team, together with agriculture coalition allies, also met Feb. 4 with the White House National Economic Council to discuss export supply chain concerns and work to identify additional solutions, reiterating its recommendation that the administration consider suspension of “box rules” that limit ag shippers’ ability to mix and match containers and chassis equipment and discussed other potential strategies to alleviate the crisis.

NMPF staff also joined a small group of agricultural organizations in a Feb. 22 meeting with White House Port Envoy John Porcari to further discuss potential changes to the box rules, urge the administration to replicate the Port of Oakland pop-up site designated for staging agricultural exports and explore options to increase data transparency for U.S. exporters.

Pathways to Expand Trade Under Pursuit

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

While movement by the administration to resume comprehensive trade negotiations remains lacking, NMPF continues pursuing multiple pathways and outlining steps to government officials that can be taken to expand market access for U.S. dairy exports.

NMPF president and CEO Jim Mulhern participated in a Feb. 10 agricultural CEO discussion with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai focused on the sector’s trade priorities and market barriers around the world, including the growing disadvantage U.S. agricultural exporters face in key markets as trade competitors negotiate free trade agreements and the United States doesn’t.

NMPF is continuing to press for the U.S. government to pursue comprehensive trade agreements, particularly with key dairy markets such as those in Southeast Asia and the United Kingdom, given that the administration is more focused currently on pursuing non-FTA trade initiatives. As a result, NMPF’s trade policy team is urging the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to use additional, alternative avenues to expand trade – addressing tariff and nontariff barriers – that can fill in gaps in trade opportunities until FTAs can be inked.

NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) submitted confidential recommendations to USTR earlier on Feb. 8, addressing areas of prime opportunity across a variety of high-priority markets. NMPF urged the administration to use trade tools such as Trade and Investment Framework Agreements and the fledgling Indo-Pacific Economic Framework to address the regulatory and policy challenges identified. NMPF is also encouraging a greater focus on lowering Most Favored Nation tariffs in key markets to put U.S. dairy exporters on a more level playing field.

NMPF and USDEC Applaud Record U.S. Dairy Exports in 2021

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

On behalf of U.S. dairy producers and manufacturers, the National Milk Producers Federation and the U.S. Dairy Export Council lauded the industry’s decades of work that’s led to a record year for U.S. dairy exports after the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced record sales of $7.75 billion in 2021, accounting for over 17% of U.S. milk production.

“The record demand for U.S. milk overseas in 2021 is a testament to the hard work and dedication of U.S. dairy farmers and the entire industry to making sure our high-quality, nutritious products feed the world as well as Americans,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation. “As we’ve said many times, exports represent the next frontier for U.S. dairy – it’s gratifying to see decades of effort bear fruit and only makes us more excited about the future successes ahead.”

“Outstanding results like last year’s record-setting $7.75 billion in U.S. dairy exports don’t happen overnight. They’re the result of a lot of hard work by our industry to build demand for U.S. dairy products around the world and harness the opportunities that past trade deals – from U.S. free trade agreements to the World Trade Organization’s Uruguay Round – have made available,” said Krysta Harden, president and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council. “We look forward to continuing to build on this success further and to ensure we have the right trade and export supply chain policy tools to support that growth.”

Exports may have reached even higher levels had U.S. exporters not been battered by supply chain challenges that drove up costs and complexity of delivering dairy products to foreign customers. The U.S. dairy industry will need proactive trade policies that remove barriers to trade and ensure that U.S. dairy farmers and manufacturers are equipped to compete on a level playing field, the organizations added.

Trade Advocates Turn Up Volume on Supply Chain Challenges

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Export supply chain challenges persisted as 2022 began, as did NMPF’s work, together with the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC), to spotlight the disruptions faced by dairy exporters to build momentum for government action.

NMPF’s focus on the issue in January continued its two-track approach of pushing for both legislative reform and near-term steps by the administration to complement that.

NMPF co-hosted an Agri-Pulse press event with USDEC on Jan. 31 to assess and discuss solutions to agricultural export supply chain snarls. The hybrid event, held at the National Press Club, featured a panel of industry speakers impacted by the agricultural export supply chain concerns, including USDEC member Leprino Foods, and a government panel of USDA Secretary Vilsack; John Porcari, the Biden Administration’s Supply Chain Ports Envoy; and Ocean Shipping Reform Act lead sponsors Congressmen John Garamendi (D-CA) and Dusty Johnson (R-SD).

“We hope to be able to make sure that people understand this isn’t just an import issue, it’s also an export issue,” Vilsack said at the event.  “And the Department of Agriculture wants to be part of the solution.”

The event, which had more than 1,200 RVSPs from industry professionals, advocates and media outlets, provided the opportunity to refocus attention on how supply chain challenges are affecting exports. NMPF conducted outreach to multiple news outlets to foster robust coverage of those aspects nationwide, gaining attention from Bloomberg News and the Hagstrom Report to the Bakersfield Californian.

The webinar followed a Jan. 27 CEO roundtable discussion hosted by Sec. Vilsack that included two NMPF members – Dairy Farmers of America and California Dairies Inc. –to examine what other steps the Administration could take to mitigate the export supply chain snarls still plaguing dairy and other agricultural exporters.

The events took place as NMPF worked to build support in the Senate for companion legislation to the House of Representatives-passed Ocean Shipping Reform Act. The Senate bill planned for introduction early this month by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and John Thune (R-SD) reflects many of the key provisions NMPF worked to secure in the House bill. To build on that positive starting point, NMPF is urging some targeted improvements as the legislation proceeds through the Congressional process.

NMPF also built support for a robust bipartisan message to President Biden urging him to take several near-term steps allowed under current law to provide further relief to agricultural exporters. The House letter, led by Reps. Jim Costa (D-CA) and Dusty Johnson (R-SD), garnered 71 signatures. NMPF worked closely with Congressional offices to help craft the letter’s messages.

NMPF’s Bjerga on Dairy Sales, Gruyere

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

 

NMPF Senior Vice President for Communications Alan Bjerga discusses positive trends in retail dairy sales, along with the broader implications of a recent court win for U.S. cheesemakers, on WEKZ radio. Grocery-store sales of cheese, butter, yogurt and other dairy products are up over pre-pandemic levels, as a consumer return to reliable, high-quality products during the pandemic takes deeper roots.

NMPF’s Morris on U.S. Dairy’s Trade Win Over Canada

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

Shawna Morris, Senior Vice President for Trade with the National Milk Producers Federation and the U.S. Dairy Export Council, discusses U.S. dairy’s win over Canada in the first trade dispute ever brought before the USMCA’s dispute settlement panel on RFD-TV. The panel ruled against Canada in a case brought by the United States over its unfair allocation of quotas that limited U.S. dairy access to Canada agreed to as part of USMCA.