Tag: Mexico and Canada dairy

NMPF Strengthens Ties in Mexico

Posted on by Rachel Ravencraft

NMPF built on its longstanding ties with Mexico during a USDA agricultural trade mission from Nov. 3–6, where Jaime Castaneda, executive vice president for policy development and strategy, and Shawna Morris, executive vice president for trade policy and global affairs, represented the organization as part of the U.S. delegation of agribusinesses and organizations led by USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins.

NMPF met with Mexican Undersecretary of Foreign Trade Luis Rosendo Gutierrez and leadership from the Mexican intellectual property office. The delegation also engaged Mexican producer and processor organizations and several major dairy importers.

Castaneda and Morris reinforced to Mexican government officials the importance of preserving and strengthening the mutually beneficial dairy trade relationship between the United States and Mexico. As part of that discussion, NMPF pressed Mexican officials to ensure full implementation of U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) provisions related to the protections of common cheese terms and prior users of generic names. U.S. exporters’ rights to use certain terms are at risk as the European Union advances toward implementation of its updated trade deal with Mexico, which includes various restrictions on the use of common food names.

NMPF will continue to work with the U.S. and Mexican governments to ensure the important bilateral trade relationship is preserved and outstanding issues like the right to use common names are resolved in the USMCA 2026 Joint Review process.

Dairy Organizations Urge Intensified Negotiations to Restore Trade Flows

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Leaders from the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) released the following statements today in response to retaliatory measures announced by Mexico, Canada and China.

“The President believes tariffs are necessary to address the opioid crisis in the United States. We urge Mexico and Canada to take U.S. concerns seriously,” said Gregg Doud, President and CEO of NMPF. “Mexico and Canada are valuable trading partners that American agriculture depends on, and trade with those countries is critical to the well-being of dairy farmers. Let’s focus on getting the concerns ironed out quickly so we can focus on bolstering these critical trade relationships. Then, let’s put those tariff tools to work, driving change with the trading partner that’s brushed off U.S. concerns for far too long – the European Union.”

“Exports are fundamental to the health of the U.S. dairy industry. One day’s worth of milk production out of every six is destined for international consumers and U.S. dairy sales to Mexico, Canada and China account for 51% of our total global exports. That’s a lot at stake,” said Krysta Harden, President and CEO of USDEC. “Dairy farmers and manufacturers are counting on a swift resolution to this impasse and urge a redoubling of efforts at the negotiating table to find a workable way forward that addresses U.S. national security concerns while also preserving export flows that are vital to supporting American farmers and workers. We’re eager to focus on working with the Administration on expanding global opportunities for American dairy products in ways that build on the existing base of sales to our trading partners.”