The U.S. dairy industry commended the Administration’s decision to terminate the preferential trade status granted to India for its failure to provide “equitable and reasonable access to its market” and comply with other provisions of the statute, as required. By holding India accountable for its unjustified trade barriers, the industry says USTR is setting an important precedent on enforcement.
India has denied market access to U.S. dairy products since 2003, despite receiving preferential access to the U.S. market under a special duty-free trade arrangement called the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). Over those years India has cited a variety of shifting reasons as the basis for its illicit trade barriers, including unscientific restrictions on U.S. livestock feeding practices.
“For 16 years India has enjoyed unilateral access to U.S. markets while flaunting their obligation to provide fair market access mandated under the GSP program, and harming American dairy farmers in the process,” said Jim Mulhern, National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) president and CEO. “The Administration has sent a clear message: abide by free and fair trade practices or face the consequences.”
“The U.S. dairy industry strongly welcomes this enforcement action by USTR and hopes that it sets the precedent that unfair trade practices will not be tolerated, and compliance enforcement measures will be utilized when warranted,” said Tom Vilsack, chairman and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council.
The U.S. dairy industry has worked alongside the U.S. government for years with the goal of coming to a mutually beneficial resolution with the Indian government. However, India has failed to engage in good-faith negotiations to restore market access for U.S. dairy exports. USDEC and NMPF submitted comments to the USTR in September 2017 urging the USTR to utilize congressional-mandated compliance requirements to modify India’s GSP status.
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.
