United States farm groups are closely watching today’s meeting in Washington between the U.S. and Mexico on trade. Mexican officials will present an immigration proposal to U.S. officials they hope will satisfy the U.S. and avoid the proposed 5-percent tariff on Mexican imports starting June 10. South Dakota Dairy Producers Association President Marv Post says Mexico is their top cheese export market and in 2018 accounted for 15.8-percent of all milk production in the U.S. Post says that makes avoiding a trade war critical.

He says the other concern is that tariff battle could undermine the passage of the U.S. Mexico Canada trade agreement. This comes just days after all three countries agreed to unilaterally drop tariffs including those on aluminum and steel, which was a prerequisite for ratification of the USMCA trade pact by Mexico and Canada.

However, Post says the dairy industry does want the illegal immigration program dealt with, as well as overall immigration reform.