Friday, June 17, 2022
CapitalPress.com 5
USTR takes action on access to Canadian dairy markets
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
The Biden administration
has initiated a second dispute
under the U.S.-Mexico-Can-
ada Agreement to address
Canada’s restrictions on mar-
ket access for U.S. dairy
products.
U.S. Trade Representative
Katherine Tai has requested
dispute settlement consulta-
tions with the Canadian gov-
ernment concerning Cana-
da’s ongoing refusal to meet
its trade obligations regard-
ing the allocation of tariff-rate
quotas, known as TRQs.
A TRQ applies a prefer-
ential rate to a predetermined
quantity of imports. Any
imports above that quantity
are subject to significantly
higher tariffs.
The U.S. is challenging
Canada’s allocation mea-
sures that deny access to
eligible applicants, includ-
ing Canadian retailers, food-
service operators and other
importers
The U.S. is also chal-
lenging Canada’s failure to
fully allocate its annual dairy
TRQs and instead parceling
out a few months’ quota at a
time.
U.S. dairy has argued that
Canada reserves the bulk
of TRQ access for Cana- moved Canada farther from
dian dairy processors, which full compliance with its
have little incentive to import USMCA obligations.
competing U.S. product.
The U.S. Dairy Export
The U.S. pre-
Council and the
vailed in its first dis-
National Milk Pro-
ducers
Federation
pute settlement in
have been engaged
January, with a dis-
pute resolution panel
in the issue and ear-
lier this month called
finding
Canada’s
on the U.S. govern-
dairy TRQ system
ment to levy retal-
violates the terms of
iatory tariffs against
USMCA.
Katherine
Canada. The groups
In response, Can-
Tai
ada issued a new
applauded the Biden
TRQ proposal in March. But administration’s initiation of
that proposal included only a second dispute panel.
inconsequential changes, and
“USTR and USDA have
Canada’s
implementation shown dogged determi-
measures and other actions nation to uphold USMCA
despite Ottawa’s clear refusal
to engage in real reform
to come into compliance
with the agreement,” said
Krysta Harden, president and
CEO of U.S. Dairy Export
Council.
Dairy farmers and pro-
cessors appreciate the clear
bipartisan commitment from
both the administration and
Congress for enforcing the
USMCA and insisting on
getting the full export bene-
fits, she said.
“If we allow Canada to
simply ignore its clear obli-
gations, it will set a danger-
ous and damaging precedent
for future trade disputes that
U.S. dairy exports set new record in April
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
U.S. dairy exports grew
1% in April, setting a new
monthly volume record.
While the increase was mod-
est, it marked the first year-
over-year gain of 2022 and
built on the strong perfor-
mance in March.
April was only the fifth
time U.S. dairy exports
topped 200,000 metric tons
in milk solid equivalent. That
mark was previously met
in March 2022 and March
through May 2021, analysts
with the U.S. Dairy Export
Council reported.
“The past two months are
encouraging, given that they
came in the face of ongo-
ing supply chain challenges,
COVID lockdowns depress-
ing Chinese demand and
rampant global inflation,” the
analysts said.
Year over year, U.S.
export value soared 22% to
$845.6 million, second only
to March 2022 for highest
monthly U.S. export value.
“Cheese continues to be
the U.S. export star in 2022,”
the analysts said.
U.S. cheese exports in
April grew 2% in volume
year over year to 41,375 met-
ric tons — only the third time
they’ve exceeded 40,000
metric tons in a single month.
Those exports followed
41,693 metric tons in March.
“It was the first time the
United States ever exported
more than 40,000 metric tons
in two consecutive months,”
the analysts said.
Central America led
growth in cheese exports in
April, up 40% to 1,189 met-
ric tons, but volume gains
were geographically wide-
spread. Cheese shipments
increased 8% to Mexico year
over year, 56% to the Carib-
bean, 17% to Japan and 18%
to the Middle East/North
Africa.
“The gains were more
than enough to offset year-
over-year shortfalls to Aus-
tralia, Korea, China and
South America,” the analysts
said.
New U.S. cheddar capac-
ity is helping to fuel the gains.
Year-over-year U.S. cheddar
exports more than doubled
in April to 9,231 metric tons,
with a big portion destined
for Japan. April U.S. cheddar
shipments to Japan soared
271% to 3,409 metric tons.
Even with a dip in inter-
national cheddar prices “U.S.
cheddar continues to enjoy a
significant price advantage
over competitors, suggesting
further solid numbers could
be in the offing,” the analysts
said.
Whey exports continue to
hang tough despite reduced
Chinese demand for sweet
whey.
Overall U.S. whey export
volume was just slightly
below a year earlier despite
a 43% — or more that 4,000
metric ton — decline in ship-
ments of sweet whey to
China.
U.S. sweet whey exports
to all other markets grew 2%,
up 263 metric tons. And U.S.
shipments of all other whey
products to all markets grew
12%, an increase of nearly
4,000 metric tons.
“With no expectations for
Chinese sweet whey demand
to rebound in the short term,
the focus moving forward
will remain on other sweet
whey markets and the rest of
the whey complex continu-
ing to pick up the slack,” the
analysts said.
Outside of sweet whey,
the biggest U.S. dairy export
decline in April came from
nonfat dry milk and skim
milk powder, which fell 6%
to 73,529 metric tons.
will reach far beyond the mil-
lions of jobs supported by the
American dairy industry,”
she said.
Canada’s updated TRQ
system continues to block
key stakeholders in the Cana-
dian food and agriculture
sector, including retailers,
from accessing the TRQs, the
groups said.
Canada’s
allocation
method provides inequitable
advantages to that nation’s
dairy processors and fails
to employ good regulatory
practices to encourage effec-
tive use of the TRQs allo-
cated to a given company,
they said.
Dairy West, Girl Scouts
team up for food donations
Capital Press
Food banks in Idaho
and Utah are receiv-
ing $5,000 from Dairy
West, a regional dairy
promotion organization,
after shoppers in the two
states donated thousands
of boxes of Girl Scout
cookies.
This year’s Cook-
ies from the Heart cam-
paign asked cookie pur-
chasers to pay $5 for an
extra box of cookies to
be donated to local food
banks for distribution to
their clients.
Additionally,
Dairy
West gave $1 per donated
box to the food banks for
every box donated to pair
those cookies with milk.
Dairy West committed
to donate up to $5,000 in
each state.
To encourage dona-
tions, Darigold, a North-
west dairy cooperative,
gave out free milk during
events held at Albertsons
stores in Idaho and Har-
mons stores in Utah.
“Dairy farm families
are committed to support-
ing their neighbors and
increasing access to nutri-
ent-rich foods through
community partnerships,”
said Jaclyn St. John, Dairy
West director of commu-
nity wellness.
In Idaho, the effort
prompted 16,051 cookie
box donations to the
Idaho Food Bank — an
increase of more than 30%
compared to last year’s
Cookies from the Heart
campaign.
“Community partner-
ships are key to provid-
ing neighbors facing hun-
ger with the resources
and hope they need to
move toward a positive
future,” said Morgan Wil-
son, Idaho Foodbank chief
development officer.
“This is a great example
of collaboration, bringing
together the hard-working
and dedicated Girl Scouts
of Silver Sage and our
year-round partner Dairy
West,” she said.
Dairy West did not
get the specific num-
ber of donated boxes in
Utah but chose to honor
the full matching dona-
tion of $5,000 to the Utah
Food Bank.
U.S. dairy exports January through April
Product
(Metric Tons)
2021
20222
% change
DM/SMP
299,480
276,479
-7.7
Dry whey products
210,150
180,665
-4.8
Cheese
132,750
145,454
9.6
Lactose
126,181
135,608
7.5
WMP
15,237
13,167
-12.4
Butterfat
17,039
25,653
50.5
MPC
13,471
13,589
0.9
Milk/cream (liters)
Total volume* (metric tons)
45,567
46,996
3.1
766,409
759,262
-0.9
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