Tag: U.S. dairy trade asia

U.S. Dairy Celebrates Market Access Advances in Southeast Asia

Posted on by Rachel Ravencraft

The National Milk Producers Federation and the U.S. Dairy Export Council praised today’s announcement of new trade agreements with Malaysia and Cambodia and new trade agreement frameworks with Thailand and Vietnam, strengthening U.S. dairy’s position in Southeast Asia’s high-growth market.

“With these new agreements, the administration has delivered big wins for America’s dairy farmers,” said Gregg Doud, president and CEO of NMPF. “Agreements like those struck with Malaysia and Cambodia will ensure we have fair access to Southeast Asia’s fast-growing markets. That’s essential so that our farmers and cooperatives can keep doing what they do best – producing top-quality milk and dairy products for families here at home and around the world. We look forward to working closely with the administration as they turn the new frameworks with Vietnam and Thailand into strong deals as well.”

“These agreements with Malaysia and Cambodia open new doors for U.S. dairy exports in two dynamic markets and the frameworks with Vietnam and Thailand offer the promise of more to come,” said Krysta Harden, president and CEO of USDEC. “By removing tariffs, addressing nontariff trade barriers and cutting red tape, the agreements will make it easier for U.S. suppliers to deliver the high-quality dairy ingredients and foods that Southeast Asia’s growing consumers demand. USDEC appreciates the great work of the U.S. negotiating team in securing these important results.”

The agreement with Malaysia will deliver meaningful gains for U.S. dairy exporters including the elimination of virtually all remaining dairy tariffs, state of the art protections for common cheese names, assurances regarding dairy certification, recognition of the U.S. dairy safety system, streamlining of facility registration requirements, and reinforcement of the vital importance of basing regulations on sound science.

The agreement with Cambodia delivers similar results extending to also include a full elimination of all tariffs on U.S. dairy exports and a prohibition on the establishment or maintenance of a facility listing requirement for U.S. dairy products.

The trade framework agreements with Thailand and Vietnam provide outlines of the provisions with each to come, both offering the promise of similarly strong outcomes on tariffs and nontariff barriers impacting dairy exporters.

Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand are already among the top twenty export destinations for U.S. dairy products, account for $118 million, $127 million and $87 million respectively in sales last year. The new deal comes as the EU advances negotiations on free trade agreements this year with Malaysia and Thailand while Vietnam entered the sixth year of its FTA with the EU this year. All three also have long-standing deals with New Zealand and Australia. In light of this, the U.S. agreements are particularly important to maintaining U.S. competitiveness in this key region. While U.S. dairy exports to Cambodia totaled only $3 million last year, it too offers potential for further growth.

Dairy Groups Welcome IPEF, Seek Prioritization of Market Access Provisions

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) welcomed the announced launch of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) today and the opportunity it offers to strengthen ties with key trading partners across the Asia-Pacific region.

Exports are exceptionally important to the U.S. dairy industry. The United States exported $7.75 billion in dairy products worldwide in 2021, equivalent to approximately 17% of total U.S. milk production.

“Today marks an essential first step on what will surely be a complex journey,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “But to successfully compete in the Asia-Pacific region and meet their demand for dairy, we ultimately need a level playing field. That means tackling both tariff and nontariff barriers that weigh down the ability of U.S. dairy exporters to keep pace with EU and Oceania competitors that have successfully negotiated agreements across the region. We support USTR’s launch of IPEF and look forward to partnering with the Administration on it as talks proceed. As that commences, I urge the Biden Administration to set specific time frames for IPEF negotiations so that it can deliver meaningful results for American dairy farmers. We cannot afford another Trans-Pacific Partnership-type outcome in which we negotiate for six years only to walk away from the final result, leaving our exporters no further down the road than where we started.”

“IPEF offers a chance for the United States to have a positive impact on the trading environment in a vital area of the world,” said Krysta Harden, president and CEO of USDEC. “The Asia-Pacific region is an important destination for U.S. dairy exports and offers impressive prospects for continued growth and expansion thanks to growing consumer demand for the type of high-quality products the U.S. produces so well. If IPEF is crafted to include meaningful market access improvements and address non-tariff barriers, then these regional trends will help drive economic benefits for American farmers, dairy manufacturers and industry workers for decades to come.”

Dozens of members of Congress from both parties have underscored to the administration the importance of securing market access gains in IPEF. On March 30, a bipartisan group of 87 House members urged the Administration to prioritize agriculture in IPEF negotiations and outlined examples of both tariff and nontariff results that should be pursued. On May 9, two dozen Senate Republicans wrote to Ambassador Tai and Secretary Vilsack to urge the inclusion of market access and enforceable commitments in IPEF.

While supporting the use of IPEF and other targeted trade tools to advance exports, USDEC and NMPF have been unyielding in their call for once again pursuing comprehensive trade agreements around the world, and especially in the Asia-Pacific region, where competitors like the EU and Oceania have been especially active.

USDEC and NMPF filed comments on the IPEF trade agreement on April 11. The filing noted, “NMPF and USDEC’s priority and strong preference is the pursuit of comprehensive trade agreements to establish lasting trade barrier reductions on both the tariff and nontariff fronts. Recognizing that the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) is not likely to be such an agreement, we nevertheless urge the Administration to seek to eliminate or reduce both tariff and nontariff barriers to U.S. dairy exports through the IPEF.”