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A Central Valley representative and other members of Congress are calling on the federal government to hold Canada accountable for possible trade violations.

Rep. Jim Costa (D-Fresno), senior member of the House Agriculture Committee, joined a bipartisan group of 74 representatives urging U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to hold Canada accountable for failing to meet its dairy commitments under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

They are asking for strong enforcement actions ahead of the 2026 review to protect American dairy producers and ensure both fairness and market access for U.S. exporters.

“USMCA raised the bar for what trade agreements could be, yet Canada has still failed to uphold its dairy commitments. This review is the appropriate mechanism to strengthen enforcement, close loopholes, and ensure that the benefits envisioned under the agreement are fully realized,” the coalition stated.

California dairies produce $2.6 billion in export value. Canada and Mexico purchase 43% of all California dairy exports.

During USMCA negotiations, Canada agreed to expand market access for U.S. diary by creating new tariff-rate quotas reserved exclusively for American producers.

The bipartisan coalition is saying Canada has allocated most of the TRQs to Canadian processors who often have no incentive to import, instead of retailers, restaurants or food service providers that have the need and desire for high-quality, lower-cost U.S. dairy products, according to a news release from Costa’s office.

Canada has further distorted the market by offloading artificially low-priced, nonfat milk solids on the global marketplace, putting downward pressure on prices for U.S. producers.

The letter also highlights the strong gains made with Mexico under USMCA and stresses the importance of preserving that progress.

“Despite Canada’s failure to uphold all of its dairy commitments under USMCA, the upcoming review process is the perfect opportunity to remediate these issues. Additionally, despite some challenges, we recognize and appreciate that Mexico has largely preserved the free flow of bilateral dairy trade,” the letter states.

The letter is also supported by the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) and the National Milk Producers Federation.

Michael Dykes, president and CEO of the IDFA, said the USMCA is the most important free trade agreement for the U.S. dairy industry and it must be renewed.

“Collaboration between Congress and the Administration is critical to maintain the agreement’s meaningful progress and finally deliver the market access promised to U.S. dairy exporters. IDFA applauds this proactive approach by Members of Congress to help ensure that the review process results in a stronger, fairer USMCA,” Dykes said.