Tag: Mexico

Milk, cheese, and Mexico: A partnership grows

Posted on by Rachel Ravencraft

By Jaime Castaneda, Executive Vice President, Policy Development & Strategy

For America’s dairy farmers, few trade relationships matter more than the one we have built with Mexico. This summer brought fresh proof that partnership remains strong, and fresh urgency to get the policy details right as the two countries renegotiate trade terms.

Deepening ties at the binational summit

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) led a delegation of U.S. dairy leaders to Querétaro, Mexico, from July 29 to 31, for the eighth annual U.S.-Mexico Binational Dairy Summit.

NMPF and leading Mexican dairy organizations discussed issues affecting producers and consumers in both countries, and reaffirmed shared principles supporting dairy sector growth and competitiveness in both markets. Participants also adopted a new commitment: supporting the next generation of dairy farmers through the exchange of knowledge and experience.

“When dairy farmers on both sides of the border sit down together, we find we’re solving the same problems and chasing the same opportunities,” said Becky Nyman, a dairy farmer who took part in this year’s summit. “This relationship works because it’s built on real conversations.”

Why Mexico matters to U.S. dairy farmers

Mexico is the single most important export market for American dairy by a wide margin. In 2025, Mexico bought $2.6 billion worth of U.S. dairy products — 27% of all U.S. dairy exports by value — making it America’s top cheese customer ($965 million), and top buyer of nonfat dry milk/skim milk powder ($1.1 billion).

That success didn’t happen overnight. Before the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) took effect in 1994, U.S. dairy exports to Mexico totaled just $211 million a year. Mexico crossed the $1 billion threshold in 2011; by 2025, that figure had grown nearly two-and-a-half-fold again.

Every pound of cheese and every truckload of milk powder moving south reflects real commercial value on U.S. dairy farms. That’s why strengthening this relationship is a bottom-line issue for producers nationwide.

USMCA Talks: where things stand

That growth is precisely why NMPF has been at the negotiating table as the U.S. and Mexico work through the review process of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). In addition to the Querétaro summit, NMPF’s Shawna Morris and I traveled to Mexico City July 22 to 23 for the third round of U.S.-Mexico bilateral negotiations. U.S. talks with Canada are continuing on a separate track.

Throughout the week, Shawna and I pressed Mexican officials, including the lead agricultural negotiator, trade ministry staff, and the director general of Mexico’s intellectual property office, on two priorities: protecting common cheese names like “Feta” and “Parmesan” from restrictions Mexico is facing pressure to adopt under its trade deal with the European Union, and preserving the broad market access that U.S. dairy exporters currently enjoy in the Mexican market.

NMPF-led engagement also included meetings with Mexican dairy industry leadership, plus briefings on Capitol Hill and with the U.S. Trade Representative’s office. As confidential advisors to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and USDA, Shawna and I are continuing to urge the U.S. negotiating team to resolve outstanding issues constructively so a stronger and renewed trade agreement with Mexico emerges from this review.

Mexico didn’t become the top dairy market of the United States by accident. It took fair trade rules to open the door, and decades of relationship-building to keep it open. As USMCA negotiations continue, NMPF will keep working every angle to make sure this relationship remains productive for the next generation of dairy farmers on both sides of the border.

This column originally appeared in Hoard’s Dairyman Intel on Aug. 31, 2026.

NMPF’s Rice: U.S. Dairy Banking on Renewing the USMCA Trade Agreement

Posted on by Jessi-Ryah Cordova

U.S. agriculture groups are watching the pending negotiations between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada as the countries work on renewing the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. Tony Rice, senior director of trade policy for NMPF, said the USMCA is very important for the dairy industry and U.S. dairy exports. “They’re number one and two, respectively, and the USMCA agreement has brought a tremendous number of benefits in growing our exports to Mexico, and simultaneously to Canada, while servicing the demand in those two markets,” he said.

NMPF Prepares for USMCA Review Process

Posted on by Rachel Ravencraft

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.

 

 

 

NMPF’s Bjerga Discusses CEO’s Corner, Trade Growth

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

 

NMPF’s Senior Vice President for Communications, Alan Bjerga, discusses NMPF’s “CEO’s Corner” for June, which deals with U.S. dairy’s growing leadership in sustainable dairy exports. The monthly thought-leadership series highlights key dairy issues of the day from an NMPF perspective and is part of the organization’s “Sharing Our Story” initiative that spotlights farmer voices and industry commentary. Bjerga spoke on WEKZ radio, Janesville, Wisconsin.

NMPF’s Castaneda Says U.S. Needs to Be Careful in Mexican Trade Issues

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

NMPF Senior Vice President for Policy Strategy and International Trade Jaime Castaneda says the U.S. needs to be careful in how it handles concerns about trade with Mexico of seasonal agricultural products, given the ripple effect Mexican trade has across agriculture. Castaneda also discussed the USMCA trade agreement, dairy sales to China and other issues on the “Adams on Agriculture” podcast.

NMPF’s Morris Says USMCA Must Be Protected

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

NMPF’s vice president for trade, Shawna Morris, talks about the importance of enforcing the dairy provisions of the USMCA trade agreement, including access to Canada’s market and the protection of common cheese names in Mexico, on the Adams on Agriculture podcast.

CCFN’s Castaneda Discusses Why Cheese Names Should Be Left Alone

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

Jaime Castaneda, the executive director of the Consortium for Common Food Names, discusses why nontariff barriers against cheeses that use common terms like havarti in their names harm American farmers, limit choices for consumers and have put farming and manufacturing jobs across an essential sector at risk. The chat on the “Adams on Agriculture” podcast comes in the wake of a Senate letter last week in which 61 U.S. senators asked for more protection of feta, parmesan and other common food names.

Working to Improve Dairy Labor, Inside and Outside Washington

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

As the voice of dairy farmers in Washington, the National Milk Producers Federation constantly works for policy solutions to help our members succeed. As an organization that advances the interests of dairy farmers and the cooperatives they own, we strive to help producers meet their evolving needs regardless of the prevailing policy environment in Washington. Our ongoing efforts to improve dairy’s labor situation are a clear example of both priorities at work.

Agricultural labor reform legislation is a top Washington priority for us in 2020. We’re doing all we can to advance the policy process even though it’s a contentious election year. We’re also building the new FARM Workforce Development program, which will give farmers tools to better manage their workforce needs in the here and now. One effort aims to create a reliable ag worker program that would alleviate labor shortages and allow for future growth; the other focuses on human resources and safety management to ensure the highest quality dairy workforce here and now. The dual approach embodies NMPF’s comprehensive, farmer-driven problem-solving.

About farm-labor legislation: We celebrated a win last December when the House of Representatives passed its first ag-labor bill since 1986. The initiative created a workable guest-worker program for year-round agricultural sectors, including dairy, and offered a vehicle that can be improved and reconciled with any bill on this topic the Senate passes this year. But of course, key to that strategy is actual Senate passage – and on that front we are working diligently to pave a way forward.

We’re anticipating a Senate bill will be introduced this spring containing changes to the H-2A visa program so it can work for dairy – and stabilization of our current workforce. Observers of behind-the-scenes negotiations expect that the Republican-led Senate will likely make improvements to H2A that build on the House’s initial effort. Indications are that USDA is working to keep ag labor reform on the agenda and that the White House has spoken with Republican senators on this topic, suggesting that a compromise is still possible.

Any Senate bill would likely need to be considered before Congress leaves for its summer recess to have a chance to be reconciled with the House legislation in time for final congressional approval this year. We’re making sure dairy’s voice is heard throughout the process – including by having a large group of our dairy advocates from across the country make Capitol Hill visits this month to talk with their Senators. Ag labor reform is crucial for future prosperity. This potential opportunity isn’t one we can afford to let pass by.

But working for improvements in Washington isn’t enough to help farmers navigating an increasingly complex labor market on their own farms every day. That’s where FARM Workforce Development (WFD) comes in. FARM is developing a guide to best practices that offers assistance, not requirements — designed to help farms improve their HR and safety management; identify which best practices will be most useful to implement on their farm; and track improvement over time.

The WFD program area as a whole is focused on farm-level best-practices. And by helping farmers better lead their workforces, it also provides important assurances to dairy customers, an increasingly important consideration in a consumer conscious age.

A WFD evaluation tool was tested in a pilot program involving 10 cooperatives and 28 dairies that provided feedback, ranging in size from 120 cows to 18,000. We also solicited public comments on the tool. Overall response to the tool was positive and constructive, and the tool itself will be discussed and presented for approval at National Milk’s Board meeting later this month. FARM Workforce Development may not generate the headlines of immigration legislation, but it is very important – because farmers won’t prosper tomorrow if they don’t thrive in the here and now.

That is, after all, what we are striving to do. There may be no more emotional or complex an issue in dairy today than labor markets. But that’s exactly why engagement is so crucial. Farmer concerns spur action – and progress – inside the Beltway and far beyond it. It’s all how we serve our members, and our commitment will not waver.

U.S. Dairy Industry Praises Administration and Congress for Final Passage of USMCA

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

ARLINGTON, VA – The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) cheered today’s Senate vote paving the way for the President’s signature of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

Looking ahead, USDEC and NMPF urged U.S. officials to carefully monitor Canada and Mexico’s USMCA commitments once the trade deal takes effect to ensure its provisions are enforced accordingly so that the dairy industry is able to reap the full benefits of the agreement negotiated by Ambassador Lighthizer and the negotiating teams at USTR and USDA.

“USMCA makes important strides to break down trade barriers, opening the door to new opportunities and supporting the flow of high-quality American dairy products to two valuable export markets,” said Tom Vilsack, president and CEO of USDEC. “The strong enforcement measures included in the final agreement give officials the tools necessary to hold our trade partners accountable and ensure the gains secured by USMCA are completely realized. We are grateful to the Administration for the sizable accomplishments secured in USMCA on dairy. With this trade deal complete, negotiators can now turn their attention to other key markets around the world in order to gain further ground for U.S. dairy.”

“America’s dairy farmers are celebrating today’s bipartisan vote as a win. Under President Trump’s leadership, USTR and USDA negotiated an agreement that will deliver a more certain future for our dairy farmers and rural economy,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “The U.S. must now remain diligent and proactively work with Canada and Mexico to implement USMCA in both letter and spirit. Full compliance is essential to achieving more fair trade with Canada and protecting American-made cheeses in Mexico.”

USMCA fundamentally changes Canada’s trade-distorting policies, reforms Canada’s controversial dairy pricing system and provides exclusive Canadian market access for U.S. farmers and manufacturers. According to the International Trade Commission, U.S. dairy exports are projected to increase by more than $314 million a year. USMCA also strengthens the relationship between Mexico and the U.S. and establishes new protections for products that rely on common cheese names, such as parmesan and feta.

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