NMPF welcomed a tenth Agreement on Reciprocal Trade on July 21 with a new deal signed between the United States and Jordan that reinforces duty-free access for U.S. dairy exports and secures important commitments to address nontariff barriers.
The agreement builds on the 2001 U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement and advances priorities NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) have consistently advocated in trade negotiations, including preempting unnecessary regulatory barriers and protecting the use of common cheese names.
Specific to dairy, Jordan committed to recognize the U.S. dairy safety system as equivalent to its own and refrain from imposing facility registration requirements on U.S. dairy imports. The agreement also protects the use of 40 common cheese names, including “parmesan,” “feta” and “asiago,” and establishes transparent procedures for evaluating geographical indications applications. Additional commitments on import licensing, technical regulations, and sanitary and phytosanitary measures are intended to ensure science-based, predictable trade rules that facilitate U.S. dairy exports.
The deal came shortly before United States on July 24 imposed new Section 301 tariffs on 60 markets around the world due to their “failure to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor.” Ranging from 10 to 12.5 percent by country, with exemptions for USMCA-compliant goods, the new duties replace the 10 percent Section 122 tariffs imposed in February due to balance of payments deficits, which expired after the 150-day statutory limit.
USTR also granted zero exemptions for dairy imports into the United States under the new tariff announcement, following NMPF and USDEC’s July 6 comments urging the agency to keep dairy off exemption lists. The comments highlighted the more than $2 billion dairy trade deficit between the United States and the European Union driven primarily by a web of tariff and nontariff barriers. NMPF and USDEC noted that granting the European Union its request for dairy tariff relief would be a step in the wrong direction to correcting the deeply imbalanced transatlantic trade relationship.
While China maintains a 10 percent tariff on all U.S. exports, including dairy, no additional markets announced plans for retaliation. NMPF will continue to work with the administration to ensure the leverage yields new market access for U.S. dairy exporters, building on the 10 Agreements on Reciprocal Trade signed to date.
