Objectives for new NAFTA set priority on 'do no harm' approach to existing ag markets

Hello everyone, 

The Trump administration on Monday laid out its plans for a new North American Free Trade Agreement.

A summary of the plan's objectives was released by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. They largely reflect the concerns DBMMC and other agricultural groups have raised throughout the public comment and hearing process.

For the trade of agricultural goods, the USTR prioritizes the "do no harm" approach to maintain the existing high-level market access. This objective is important for the dairy community because 15 percent of all milk produced in the U.S. is exported and 40 percent of those exports flow to our NAFTA partners.

After taking care of existing markets, the USTR would like to gain additional market access through the elimination of non-tariff barriers as well as to promote transparency in setting future regulations to ensure compatibility and free market access.

A summary of the objectives can be found here.

Throughout the development of the NAFTA plan, DBMMC has been engaged in many diverse ways.

To ensure a unified voice in agriculture, the co-op is part of the North American Food and Ag Trade Group. We also submitted our own comments to highlight the importance of dairy in NAFTA. And as part of our recent Washington D.C. fly-in, several DBMMC staff met with USTR staff to formally discuss the importance of trade as well as areas where we believe NAFTA can be strengthened.

Click here to see our formal comments.

Trade is critical to the country's dairy community. With assistance from our federal lobbyist in Washington, we will continue to work with the administration to ensure success for our farmers.

Please contact us with questions.

Aaron Stauffacher

Associate director of government affairs