December 8, 2017
CapitalPress.com
Dairy/Livestock
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China’s new tariff reduction
to boost U.S. cheese exports
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
China is unilaterally low-
ering its tariffs on cheese
imports from 12 percent to
8 percent in a broader pack-
age of tariff reductions on
foods and consumer goods
that went into effect on
Dec. 1.
The U.S. Dairy Export
Council says the lower tar-
iffs will immediately boost
the competitiveness of U.S.
cheese exports and help
U.S. suppliers play a larg-
er role in meeting China’s
booming cheese demand.
“We are very pleased with
China’s decision because it
will help U.S. cheese export-
ers and manufacturers chip
away the tariff disadvantage
with other competitors,”
Tom Vilsack, USDEC presi-
dent and chief executive of-
ficer, said in a press release.
Cheese was includ-
ed in the tariff reductions
because of three years of
bridge-building efforts led
by USDEC. Those efforts fo-
cus on working with Chinese
authorities to analyze the
mutual benefits that would
flow from China unilaterally
lowering its tariffs on certain
dairy products.
USDEC has been focused
on pursuing opportunities
to address the competitive
disadvantage faced by var-
ious U.S. dairy exports into
China and other markets,
said Shawna Morris, vice
president of trade policy for
USDEC.
The effort is broader than
access to the cheese market
in China, but this was an op-
portunity to make headway
there and USDEC is very
pleased by the step China
Dairy
Markets
Associate Press File
Cheese ages at a Wisconsin plant. China’s decision to reduce its tariff on U.S. cheese is expected
to increase exports.
chose to take, she told Cap-
ital Press.
“As this was a unilateral
action, China clearly saw it
as in its own benefit to make
this change and thereby help
to increase consumer choice
options in China,” she said.
Over the last decade, Chi-
na’s cheese imports soared
more than seven-fold to near-
ly 100,000 metric tons. Al-
ready a Top 10 cheese buyer,
it is on pace to become the
largest cheese importer in the
world in the coming years.
At the same time, U.S.
suppliers have been losing
market share, in part due to
unfavorable tariff rates ver-
sus that of competitors, ac-
cording to USDEC.
17
U.S. cheese exports to
China in 2016 were 11,743
metric tons, valued at $38.2
million. That was down from
15,483 metric tons valued at
$53.3 million in 2015, ac-
cording to the USDA Foreign
Agricultural Service.
U.S. market share on a
value basis was 14 percent of
China’s total cheese imports
in 2016, down from the peak
of 27 percent in 2012, Ve-
ronica Nigh, American Farm
Bureau Federation econo-
mist, noted in this week’s
AFBF Market Intel.
Oceania and the EU are
the main competitors to U.S.
dairy in China, Morris said.
The EU doesn’t have a
free trade agreement with
China, so it pays the same
tariff rates as the U.S. But
Australia and New Zealand
have agreements with China
that provide duty-free access
on a certain quantity of their
products and diminishing
tariffs for various products,
she said.
The U.S. remains at a dis-
advantage not only in China
but in other countries when it
comes to tariffs due to lack of
U.S. free trade agreements,
Jaime Castaneda, USDEC
senior vice president of trade
policy said in the press re-
lease.
“We are committed to
finding ways to recoup that
competitive disadvantage,”
he said.
USDA expands school
flavored-milk options
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
Low-fat flavored milk will
be back in schools around the
country next school year due
to USDA’s new School Meal
Flexibility Rule, which rein-
states that option.
USDA eliminated that op-
tion in 2012, allowing only
nonfat flavored milk and low-
fat and nonfat unflavored milk
in the National School Lunch
and School Breakfast pro-
grams.
Dairy groups are applauding
USDA Secretary Sonny Purdue
for following through on his
proposal earlier this year to al-
low schools the option, saying
loss of that option resulted in
a significant decrease in milk
consumption in schools.
While total fluid milk con-
sumption in schools in 2016
was estimated at 402 million
gallons or 3.4 billion pounds,
based on USDA data, it had
dropped by 288 million half
pints in 2015 compared to
2011, according to Internation-
al Dairy Foods Association and
National Milk Producers Fed-
eration.
That represents a 4.2 percent
decrease of about 144 million
pounds, or nearly 17 million
gallons, despite growing enroll-
ment and the option of nonfat
flavored milk.
USDA’s action “will help
reverse declining milk con-
sumption by allowing schools
to provide kids with access to
a variety of milk options, in-
cluding the flavored milks they
enjoy,” Michael Dykes, IDFA
president and CEO, said in a
press release.
Perdue’s willingness to
provide greater flexibility to
schools recognizes that a vari-
ety of milk and other healthful
dairy foods is critically import-
ant to improving nutritional
contributions of child nutri-
tion programs in schools, Jim
Mulhern, NMPF president and
CEO, said in the press release.
“The math here is quite
simple: More milk consump-
tion equals better nutrition for
America’s kids,” he said.
Having a small amount
of fat in the milk helps with
mouth-feel as well as satiety,
Chris Galen, NMPF senior vice
president of communications,
told Capital Press.
“The issue isn’t just fla-
vored milk; schools are of-
fering that now. It’s the com-
bination of the flavor, usually
chocolate, plus the 1 percent
fat level that makes it more
popular than either fat-free
flavored, or 1 percent white
milk,” he said.
The other thing to keep in
mind is that offering 1 percent
flavored milk is consistent
with the Dietary Guidelines for
America, which recognize that
such a product will help chil-
dren meet their daily nutritional
needs without making signifi-
cant contributions to their sugar
or fat intake levels, he said.
Under current rules,
schools would have to demon-
strate either a reduction in stu-
dent milk consumption or an
increase in school milk waste
to offer low-fat flavored milk.
The two organizations said
they appreciate Perdue’s un-
derstanding that the regula-
tory process needed to move
quickly so schools can in-
clude the option in their menu
planning and procurement
processes.
Publication of the new rule
will allow school districts to
solicit bids for low-fat fla-
vored milk this spring, giving
milk processors time to for-
mulate and produce a product
that meets the specifications
of particular school districts,
they said.
Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association
Lee Mielke
Dairy prices
continue
lower
By LEE MIELKE
For the Capital Press
C
ME dairy prices were
mostly lower last
week. Cheddar block
cheese fell to $1.55 per
pound the first day of trading
following the Thanksgiving
break, but closed Friday at
$1.5625, down 4 3/4-cents
on the week and 24 3/4-cents
below a year ago.
The barrels fell to $1.51
last Wednesday and fin-
ished Friday at $1.5350,
down 14 cents on the week
and 8 cents below a year
ago. Twenty-two cars of
block traded hands on the
week and a whopping 62 of
barrel.
The blocks then tum-
bled 4 1/4-cents Monday
and slipped three-quarters
Tuesday, to $1.5125, as trad-
ers analyzed the morning’s
Global Dairy Trade auction
and awaited the October
Dairy Products report. That’s
the lowest block price since
Aug. 31, 2017.
The barrels were up a
penny and a half Monday
and added 1 3/4-cents Tues-
day, hitting $1.5625, 5 cents
above the blocks.
Milk headed to Class
III plants remained acces-
sible following Thanksgiv-
ing weekend, reports Dairy
Market News, and spot
prices ranged from flat mar-
ket to $4 under class. Barrel
prices hovering above the
blocks is typically viewed
as “an indication of market
instability.”
Cheese output in the West
is also strong due to higher
milk availability. Supplies
are abundant and inventories
continue to increase but de-
mand is doing well. The fall-
ing prices have also resulted
in more interest from the in-
ternational market.
December 5, 2017
CSRIA Open Letter
Hon. Sect. of Interior Ryan Zinke
Hon. Sect. of Energy Rick Perry
Hon. Sect. of Defense James Mattis
Hon. EPA Adm. Scott Pruitt
Hon. Sect. of Ag. Sonny Perdue
Lt. Gen. John Kelly, WH Chief of Staff
RE: Protecting the Columbia-Snake River System, a Great National Asset
Dear Cabinet Secretaries and Gen. Kelly:
It would seem inconceivable that we should have to request your intervention to protect one of the greatest
national assets, the economic engine that comprises the Columbia-Snake River Federal Hydropower System.
But events prod this correspondence.
The Federal Hydropower System is a testament to what good men and women can achieve, when guided by
reason and the pursuit of economic prosperity and social well-being. The System’s non-carbon emitting
turbines electrify the region’s commerce, serving some of the most influential companies in the world—like
Boeing, Microsoft, Intel, Amazon, Nike, and others—and energize the homes of millions of Northwest and
California citizens. The System creates an accessible water source for the most productive and efficient
irrigated farms on the planet; it offers commercial navigation to ship the nation’s wheat to coastal sea ports; it
provides for unique recreational opportunities. And the scientists from NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers have developed protective measures for salmon and steelhead that overcome harsh river
system conditions in unfavorable water-years.
But the political, and bureaucratic, leviathan created by the Endangered Species Act (ESA) has nurtured
twenty-five years of Columbia-Snake River litigation, now being encouraged by a single, federal district court
judge (Oregon). Worse yet, this judge now refuses to review evidence that points toward the destruction of
about two-thirds of Idaho’s wild spring chinook run, the lethal product of inept ESA management regimes and
failed oversight of the so-called fish managers.
Our prayer for relief is vested in the statutory power of the ESA (ESA Committee review and the exemption
process), where an executive directive can be invoked to shield Hydropower System operations from further,
abusive litigation, and to adopt System measures that will more than sufficiently protect ESA-listed fish.
While CSRIA is in communication with senior agency and DOJ staff, who are being respectful of our
legitimate concerns, the national asset at risk is worthy of your personal attention, and we would request an
opportunity to meet directly with you, to better inform your understanding of the situation.
Respectfully,
CSRIA Board of Directors
3030 W. Clearwater, Ste. 205-A, Kennewick, WA 99336
509-783-1623, DOlsenEcon@AOL.com
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