Columbia accuses U.S. of subsidizing milk powder exports

The government of Colombia is contemplating the imposition of countervailing tariffs on U.S. milk powders, a move that the U.S. Dairy Export Council and other industry stakeholders argue is unjustified. They contend that no U.S. milk powder products enjoy government subsidies, debunking Colombia's claim that these products are artificially cheap due to subsidies. This controversy arose in mid-July, with the U.S. dairy industry quickly assembling evidence to counter these allegations and emphasizing the benefits of their free trade agreement with Colombia. The U.S. Dairy Export Council and the National Milk Producers Federation have enlisted bipartisan support from U.S. representatives, writing to the Columbian Ambassador to express their opposition to the proposed tariffs, highlighting the inaccuracies and potential harm to U.S.-Colombian dairy trade relations.

U.S. milk powder is being targeted for countervailing tariffs by the South American government of Columbia, which claims U.S. milk powders are subsidized by the government. Shawna Morris with the U.S. Dairy Export Council tells Brownfield there’s no basis for Columbia’s complaint. “In a word, politics. It’s as simple as that.” Morris says a similar effort was made by Columbia’s dairy industry before, but this time, it’s the government that has issued the notice. “It means that the other country is alleging that there are subsidies by the exporting party that are making the product being exported, so in this case, U.S. milk powder cheaper than it should be. That is, of course, baseless. There is absolutely no foundation to these arguments.” Morris says no U.S. milk powder products receive government subsidies. She says Columbia launched this case in mid-July, and set a mid-August deadline to file counter-arguments. “The U.S. Dairy Export Council, National Milk Producers ...