Already in trouble, Wisconsin dairy farmers are now getting hammered by tariffs [View all]
Rick Barrett, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Published 1:49 p.m. CT June 27, 2018 | Updated 8:35 a.m. CT June 29, 2018
The U.S. dairy industry is getting hammered in trade disputes with Mexico, China and Canada, putting Wisconsin farms already in trouble at even greater risk.
Wholesale cheese and butter prices have slumped in recent weeks as buyers and sellers worry about the effect of new tariffs on dairy products, according to Pete Hardin, publisher of The Milkweed, a dairy industry publication based in Brooklyn, Wis.
Its a collapse of confidence in the world market. Globally, theres some spectacular stuff going on, Hardin said.
About 90 percent of Wisconsin milk is turned into cheese, and all but about 10 percent of that cheese is sold outside the states borders.
Mexico buys nearly a quarter of all dairy products exported by the U.S., and the American dairy industry is reeling from $387 million in Mexican tariffs of between 15 and 25 percent on cheese.
https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/business/2018/06/27/wisconsin-dairy-farmers-cheesemakers-risk-retaliatory-tariffs/738776002/