It’s been a year since the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) was officially put in place. This week members of the Senate Finance Committee got an update on how the trade agreement is going.
Among those testifying was an Idaho dairy producer, Allan Huttema. Huttema is also a member of the National Milk Producers Federation Executive Committee. He said enforcement of the plan is essential for the agreement to reach its potential for U.S. dairy farmers.
“As we like to say on the farm, ‘A deal is a deal,’ which is why our industry appreciates the decision by the USTR Trade Representative, Catherine Tai, to initiate a dispute settlement proceeding with Canada over its government’s administration of the dairy rate tariff rate quota system,” Huttema said. “We are grateful for this committee’s support and advocacy, and in securing that step. I am Canadian born and I have worked in that system, so I know that their government will do all they can to avoid fulfilling their dairy commitments.”
Hutterma said USMCA was an important step forward, but new trade agreements are needed, adding the EU is filling the vacuum that American trade policy is leaving.
