Following Rep. Delgado Request, USMCA Panel Announces Win for Upstate Dairy Producers

Press Release

Following a bipartisan letter from U.S. Representative Antonio Delgado (NY-19), a United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) panel agreed with the United States that Canada is breaching its USMCA dairy commitments. This historic win will help eliminate unjustified trade restrictions on American dairy products and will ensure that the U.S. dairy industry and its workers get the full benefit of the USMCA to market and sell U.S. products to Canadian consumers.

"The USMCA is a critical agreement for American dairy farmers that helps ensure they can sell their products throughout North America. However, for this agreement to work, it must be followed by all trading partners," said Rep. Delgado. "In May, I called on United States Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai and Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack to move forward with enforcement measures negotiated in USMCA to support U.S. dairy farmers. I am proud of this win that will help upstate farmers during a challenging farm economy."

"The United States and Canada negotiated specific market access terms covering a wide variety of dairy products, but instead of playing by those mutually agreed upon rules, Canada ignored its commitments. As a result, U.S. dairy farmers and exporters have been unable to make full use of USMCA's benefits," said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. "Today's decision is an important victory for U.S. dairy farmers and the millions of Americans whose jobs are tied to the U.S. dairy industry. We thank Congressman Antonio Delgado for his strong advocacy to secure this enforcement win aimed at preserving export opportunities for dairy farmers in Upstate New York and throughout the country."

A USMCA panel agreed with the United States that Canada is breaching its USMCA commitments by reserving most of the in-quota quantity in its dairy tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) for the exclusive use of Canadian processors. This ruling will help eliminate unjustified trade restrictions on American dairy products, and will ensure that the U.S. dairy industry and its workers get the full benefit of the USMCA to market and sell U.S. products to Canadian consumers.

Congressman Delgado joined his colleagues Reps. Ron Kind (D-WI), Tom Reed (R-NY), Glenn "GT" Thompson (R-PA), Suzan DelBene (D-WA), Dusty Johnson (R-SD), Jim Costa (D-CA), and David Valadao (R-CA) in sending the bipartisan letter on May 21, 2021.

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