US dairy welcomes U.S.-Argentina trade agreement
Agreement addresses nontariff barriers like protecting common cheese names
10 February 2026
1 minute read
By: The US Dairy Export Council (USDEC), National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), and Consortium for Common Food Names (CCFN) announced the signing of a US–Argentina Agreement on Reciprocal Trade and Investment that includes tariff and nontariff barrier concessions for US dairy exports.
Argentina commits in the trade deal to eliminate tariffs that currently range up to 28% on select dairy products, including milk powders, dairy proteins, lactose and other dairy ingredients. The agreement also establishes a 1,000 metric ton quota for certain US cheeses. In addition to tariff reductions, Argentina agrees to prevent several nontariff barriers, including refraining from imposing processing facility registration requirements on US dairy exports and providing explicit protections for 39 common cheese names like “parmesan”.
“The commitments secured in the US-Argentina reciprocal trade deal bring new, real opportunities for our dairy exports to South America,” said Krysta Harden, president and CEO of USDEC. “USDEC appreciates USTR’s hard work in securing agreements that lower tariffs and meaningfully address nontariff barriers, particularly those to protect common cheese names.”
“Argentina’s commitment to protect 39 common cheese names and 10 generic meat terms could not have come at a more important time,” said Jaime Castaneda, executive director of CCFN. “As the European Union is advancing toward implementation of its trade agreement with the Mercosur bloc of countries, our ability to use common names is increasingly at risk. We cannot thank Ambassador Greer and the USTR negotiating team enough for the foresight and leadership in protecting US exporters’ rights.”
The trade deal follows reciprocal trade agreements that the United States signed recently with El Salvador and Guatemala that included commitments to prevent barriers to US dairy exports. USDEC and NMPF will continue to work with the US government as the reciprocal trade negotiations progress to identify and address impediments to dairy trade and grow US export opportunities.
