USDEC, NMPF Respond to International Trade Commission’s economic impact analysis of Trans-Pacific Partnership
Joint statement from Tom Suber, president of the U.S. Dairy Export Council, and Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of the 
National Milk Producers Federation
“The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a historic pact. If properly implemented and enforced, on balance the agreement will represent a step forward for the U.S. dairy industry based on its improvements to the rules of the road governing trade among the 12 signatories. In addition, although the market access portion of the agreement fell short of the export opportunities our industry sought to secure, our economic analysis concluded that overall the TPP dairy market access provisions will be neutral to slightly positive.
“Included in the deal are groundbreaking new commitments on sanitary and phytosanitary issues, and significant improvements in how geographical indications (GIs) are handled. The geographical indications improvements have become especially important as the European Union continues to wield GIs as nontariff trade barriers and limit market access for U.S. dairy exporters.
“But the benefits of the TPP can only be realized if the United States assures that the signatories live up to their commitments under the agreement, as well as to their prior trade obligations. The TPP can only support the continued growth of our industry if the United States ensures that TPP advances U.S. dairy prospects compared to the status quo at the time of its conclusion, and that its provisions are fully implemented and aggressively enforced.”