Lawmakers ask for dairy trade resolutions

A group of bipartisan U.S. Senators is calling for fair dairy trade as part of trade talks with Canada. The Senators say Canada has historically failed to live up to its U.S. Mexico-Canada-Agreement commitments and is ignoring regulations under the current deal.

The letter to the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, and the U.S. Trade Representative also says Canada is negatively impacting global markets by exporting excessive amounts of dairy protein at artificially low prices. The letter was sent by Democrats Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, along with Republicans Roger Marshall of Kansas and Joni Ernst of Iowa.

Recent research by Cornell University dairy economist Chris Wolf finds Canada has removed some U.S. dairy product barriers as part of concessions made through the USMCA dispute process. He says U.S. dairy farmers are better off with the current trade agreement than under NAFTA.