Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, who applauded tariffs on Canadian timber as U.S. payback in a milk-trade dispute with its northern neighbor, discussed possible solutions with dairy leaders during a session at USDA headquarters. President Trump has twice raised the issue of U.S. ultra-filtered milk exports to the highest level of binational attention, at one point saying “we don’t want to be taken advantage of by other countries — and that’s stopping and stopping fast.”
USDA said after the meeting on Wednesday that it “continues to work across several federal agencies and the White House to achieve a lasting solution … We are confident this will get worked out.”
More than two dozen farm group leaders attended the meeting, including representatives of the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) , U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC), Dairy Farmers of America, and the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture. USDA said a number of states were represented, most prominently Wisconsin. “They discussed the Canada milk issue and possible options,” said USDA.
Dairy groups say 75 milk producers in Wisconsin and New York state were shut out of the Canadian market for ultra-filtered milk, a high-protein concentrate used in making cheese, when the government created a new pricing category, Class 7, to make locally produced ultra-filtered milk more attractive. While a comparatively small number of dairy farmers are involved in the dispute, it is the latest in friction over U.S. free-market policies and Canada’s supply-management approach that controls imports in order to assure a market — and income — for its dairy producers.
The Trump administration has not specified what action it will take to restore exports of ultra-filtered milk.
During a YouTube Live session with FFA members, Perdue said on Monday that USDA would use “every tool at our disposal” to help dairy farmers find alternative markets for milk shut out of Canada. He mentioned USDA’s authority to buy milk and cheese for public nutrition programs. On Tuesday, Wisconsin officials said they had found new buyers for almost all of the displaced milk, reported Wisconsin Ag Connection.
“The president sent Canada a strong message that if you want to, really, discriminate against our dairy farmers in this area that have been sending milk to your Canadinan consumers, manipulating those issues, then we will slap a countervailing tariff on your timber coming into our country. And that’s exactly what he’s done,” Perdue said in response to a question from an FFA member in Eau Claire, Wis.
“I hope this can get this resolved. I’ve got a big meeting with Canadian officials very soon and I’m hoping our USTR — our trade representative — and secretary of commerce and I persuade the Canadians to not restrict the inflow of U.S. milk into their country.”
Dairy groups said they met Perdue, White House ag advisor Ray Starling and acting U.S. trade representative Stephen Vaughn along with House Speaker Paul Ryan and the leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture committees. The NMPF and USDEC said the groups urged Congress and the administration “to hold Canada accountable for its trade violations and hasten the repeal of Canada’s controversial new dairy pricing system. Dairy farmers also “emphasized that trade opportunities both north and south of the United States are crucial to America’s dairy sector.”
To read an NPR story about Canada’s dairy system, click here. “Canadian dairy farmers live in a completely different world from those in the United States,” says NPR.