WAUSAU, WI (WSAU-WAOW) – Saturday the Biden Administration announced a new agreement that lowers tariffs between the United States and the European Union.
The new agreement reduces costs of European steel and aluminum allowing growing industries like the dairy industry to expand and compete with industries abroad. In return, lower tariffs will allow Wisconsin farmers to sell their products to the E.U.
Rebekah Sweeney, Senior Director of Programs and Policy, Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association says members struggled before with the foreign tariffs upping prices at least 25 percent. “We’re still working to build that relationship. So, having it decimated over the last two years really halted a lot of deals. and so were really excited to once again enter that market and start building up sales to the EU.”
The 2018 tariff also meant fewer exports and increased equipment prices. Sweeney added, “There’s a whole new world opened to us for exports and we can see our sales grow.”
Local growers and farmers are now able to move forward with plans to expand and hope shipping delays will cease as well. Ken Heiman of Nasonville Dairy and Heiman’s Holstein said it has taken up to a year for pipes that would normally cost 8 weeks to ship. What drives him, he said, is they get to build from mother nature and produce what he calls the world’s greatest cheese saying, “In Wisconsin we make over 638 cheeses. We’ve pretty much mastered all that is out there.”
The Wisconsin Farm Bureau also hopes the changes can turn profitable for farmers. “We hope that farmer profitability will increase and we wont have to rely as much on government subsidies,” said Tyler Wenzlaff, Wisconsin Farm Bureau’s Director of Government Relations.
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