The Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc. (NDFA), a full-service dairy trade association representing dairy processors, manufacturers and distributors in the northeast United States, is urging the United States Senate and House of Representatives to vote on and pass the recently negotiated United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
“Due to the proximity of our members in New York and the New England states to Canada, this trade agreement will directly benefit the dairy industry in the northeast” said Bruce W. Krupke, Executive Vice President of NDFA. “This will be a major economic boost to our members in region. Thank you to President Trump and his administration for supporting the dairy industry on this very important issue.”
The USMCA will benefit the region’s dairy farmers, processors and manufacturers through increased production and manufacturing. The agreement would bolster the strong dairy processing and manufacturing industry and also help preserve and potentially increase jobs in the state and northeast.
The USMCA agreement will not only provide for a rebalance in trade, but it will also modernize the trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico with this high-standard trade deal. NDFA members will directly benefit as a result of the USMCA with a freer market, more fair trade, and robust economic growth in the dairy foods processing, manufacturing and distribution industry. As a result, NDFA members will see an increase in consumer markets generating greater profits, which will allow for expansions, innovative products, investments in modern technology, and a demand for more jobs.
The trade agreement between the 3 countries also allows for new market opportunities in Canada for a wide variety of products, in particularly as Canada has agreed to eliminate the Class 7 milk pricing program that allowed its farmers to undersell U.S. producers, and will impose export surcharges on dairy products that exceed agreed thresholds. U.S. dairy exports to Canada and Mexico totaled $1.9 billion in 2017 from New York alone.
NDFA has members in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont. Members represent all four federal class product companies including fluid milk processors, distributors, byproduct manufacturers, ice cream and yogurt plants and some dairy farm producers.
