CLEVELAND -- Dairy farmers in the U.S. are feeling the impact of President Donald Trump's global tariff war and calling on his administration to help offset more than $1 billion in losses since the levies were first imposed in May.
American producers do stand to benefit from increased access to Canada's dairy market under the newly forged NAFTA successor, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, but a congressional vote on the deal won't happen until next year.
The National Milk Producers Federation is asking Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to provide more help to farmers than the $127 million included in the government's initial round of mitigation payments for trade disruptions under the Trump administration.
The federation estimates that the impact of retaliatory tariffs -- in particular from Mexico and China, key export markets for U.S. dairy products -- will have cost the industry $1.5 billion by the time the year is out.
Manufacturers in the U.S. heartland, as well as negotiators from Canada and Mexico, have been trying to convince the White House to lift Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum now that the three countries have reached a new trade pact.
But progress on that front isn't expected until after Tuesday's midterm elections, which appear to be the president's primary focus this week as he embarks on a barnstorming campaign in states key to the Republicans' maintaining control of the Senate.
