Dairy Groups Urge House to Vote to Approve TPA Package

Source: National Milk Producers Federation and U.S. Dairy Export Council

The National Milk Producers Federation and U.S. Dairy Export Council urge House members to vote Friday to approve new Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) and Trade Adjustment Assistance measures when they reach the floor. TPA is central to negotiating trade agreements that could be beneficial to the United States. That prospect includes the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership, and future free trade agreements. Trade Adjustment Assistance has been for years an important complement to TPA, which is why both pieces of legislation have moved in concert. We urge support for it as well.

Without TPA, we cannot match our competitors’ aggressiveness in pursuit of their trade agendas. With TPA, we can move our own agenda forward and ensure that our position in foreign markets is not eroded. TPA provides the leverage our negotiators need to conclude trade agreements that are good for the dairy industry. TPA also governs the rules for how Congress will review and approve trade agreements that meet the Congressional requirements laid out in TPA.

But a vote for TPA is not a vote for TPP or any other trade agreement. It does not prejudge the treaty terms themselves. Our negotiators are working hard to deliver a trade agreement that reflect the basic needs of the dairy industry. TPA allows negotiators to finish their job and then allows a meaningful debate on the merits of these agreements.

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The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), based in Arlington, Va., develops and carries out policies that advance the well-being of U.S. dairy producers and the cooperatives they collectively own. The members of NMPF's cooperatives produce the majority of the U.S, milk supply, making NMPF the voice of nearly 32,000 dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more on NMPF's activities, visit www.nmpf.org.

The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) is a non-profit, independent membership organization that represents the global trade interests of U.S. dairy producers, proprietary processors and cooperatives, ingredient suppliers and export traders. Its mission is to enhance U.S. global competitiveness and assist the U.S. industry to increase its global dairy ingredient sales and exports of U.S. dairy products. USDEC accomplishes this through programs in market development that build global demand for U.S. dairy products, resolve market access barriers and advance industry trade policy goals. USDEC is supported by staff across the United States and overseas in Mexico, South America, Asia, Middle East and Europe. The U.S. Dairy Export Council prohibits discrimination on the basis of age, disability, national origin, race, color, religion, creed, gender, sexual orientation, political beliefs, marital status, military status, and arrest or conviction record.