NMPF Statement on USDA Trade-Mitigation Aid Announcement
ARLINGTON, Va. – In response to the USDA’s outline of its planned trade-mitigation assistance to farmers, NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern offered the following statement:
“We appreciate the efforts of USDA and the White House to assist farmers who have suffered significant losses due to retaliatory tariffs. Dairy producers have so far lost more than $2.3 billion in revenues since tariff escalation began in earnest one year ago. USDA’s new approach raises the level of aid to dairy farmers from last year’s program, a step in the right direction. We also urge the Department to revise the outdated production history information used to calculate payments, which lessens the effectiveness of the program.
“Today’s announcement underscores that dairy farmers need to rely on trade, not aid, to prosper in a global marketplace. We will continue to work with USDA to help dairy farmers expand exports and increase consumption of dairy products through nutrition programs. Resolving the current trade impasse with China and aggressively expanding ties with other trading partners also is essential to make these aid packages unnecessary. We are also working with the administration and Congress to pass USMCA, which would immediately create new opportunities for U.S. dairy.”
The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), based in Arlington, Virginia, develops and carries out policies that advance the well-being of dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. The members of NMPF’s cooperatives produce the majority of the U.S. milk supply, making NMPF the voice of dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more on NMPF’s activities, visit our website at www.nmpf.org.