Sen. Russ Feingold (D., Wis.) has sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab over reported plans that the U.S. is planning to put dairy on the table of P4 Pacific Trade Pace, which includes New Zealand.
“Opening up access to the U.S. dairy market would displace domestic milk supplies. This would put downward pressure on dairy prices, which is likely to translate into increased loss of dairy farms, something I have been working hard to reverse,” Feingold writes.
Feingold notes a trade agreement with Australia failed to address milk protein concentrates, which can enter the U.S. “virtually tariff-free and with no volume quotas…. We must first eliminate these unfair practices that contribute to low world prices for milk before we consider moving forward with a trade agreement with New Zealand,” he writes.
