Wisconsin Ag Connection - Wisconsin Senators Join Movement to Support TTP

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Wisconsin Senators Join Movement to Support TTP
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 07/29/2015

Tammy Baldwin and Ron Johnson have joined a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators from various dairy states in urging the nation's trade representative to protect Ameria's dairy industry as negotiations continue on the Trans-Pacific Partnership. In a letter to Michael Froman, California Senator Dianne Feinstein and other supporting lawmakers said it is 'critical that any final TPP agreement provides meaningful benefits to our dairy producers and processors.'

Specifically, the Senators urged Ambassador Froman to increase market access and reduce tariffs in both Canada and Japan, and ensure the domestic dairy industry gains significant market access in those countries for key dairy commodities in a balanced way compared to any new market access granted to New Zealand's dairy industry into the United States.

"We write to request your support for ensuring the domestic dairy industry gains significant market access benefits across all products in ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations," the Senators wrote.

Baldwin, a member of the Senate Ag Appropriations Committee, says New Zealand exports 95 percent of its dairy products.

"If our dairy industry does not achieve comparable export gains in Japan and Canada as compared to those made by New Zealand into the United States, we are concerned that TPP could damage our industry's current export opportunities and domestic market share," she noted in a press release.

Earlier this month, a group of 20 federal lawmakers urged Canadian trade officials to open its markets to more dairy imports from the United States as talks over the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement draw to a close.

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