Washington – Obama Removes Import Subcharge on Israeli Milk Products

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    Washington – The United States has removed the import subcharge on dairy products from Israel, following diplomatic efforts exerted by the Israeli Embassy in Washington and the Israeli Agriculture Ministry.

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    Up to now, most of the world’s countries exporting milk products to the United States have been forced to pay a levy protecting local production. The financial damage caused to Israel’s farmers due to this tax amounted to tens of thousands of dollars.

    President Barack Obama was recently asked to solve the problem, and several days ago he signed a presidential memo eliminating the subcharge on exports of dairy products from Israel to the US.

    The memo followed diplomatic efforts on the part of Yaakov Poleg, the Agriculture Ministry’s agricultural attaché at the Israeli Embassy in Washington. Poleg managed to prove to the US Trade Representative that the trade agreement between Israel and the US prohibits placing taxes on exports from Israel.

    Following the diplomatic efforts, the American authorities agreed this week to remove Israel from the list of countries forced to pay a similar levy in the future.

    In addition, the US trade authorities have ordered the return of $17,000 to Israeli export agent Dudu Buch for a levy paid for butter produced by the Tara company.

    “There is a demand in the US for our butter, mainly because of the kashrut issue. Several months ago, someone at the American customs discovered that there was a levy on milk products. This could have hurt our profitability, and raised doubts among the Americans on whether they should even buy from us.

    “My American colleague was under a lot of pressure and almost gave up, saying that if the American system imposed a protection levy it would last forever. I told him that we Israelis can think differently. I turned to the Agriculture Ministry’s representative at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, and the matter was dealt with quickly, Buch said.”

    The levy is an important policy tool for protecting local production, which is used often by the developed and rich countries. The levy went into effect in May and applies to a series of products, including dairy products.

    The levy can be imposed by the power of the World Trade Organization’s Agriculture Agreement in order to protect local production against competing imports, which put the local production at risk.

    This levy joins the existing tax on the products it is imposed on. The levy is placed on each product differently, in accordance with its price in the US and the demand for it, with the import value of the same product or a similar competing one dropping bellow a determined threshold or above a determined quantity.

    “Thanks to hard work, the American authorities have removed Israel from the list of countries on which the levy is imposed,” says Poleg. “Moreover, in light of the fact that Israel was removed from the list through a presidential declaration, there is no fear that it will be placed on us again in the future.”

    The exports of dairy products from Israel to the US are constantly on the rise, as there appears to be a high demand for Israeli cheese, yogurt and butter. In 2007, the exports of milk products to the US totaled $6 million.


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    17 Comments
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    Shmuel
    Shmuel
    14 years ago

    As an American I am outraged – we have do to every thing to support American growth. As a supporter of the the people in Israel this would really help them.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Now let’s see the price drop in the stores on all the dairy products from israel including icecream….
    In order this should happen everybody has to ask and keep on asking from the localgrocerys this question otherwise theyl just make more on us

    Josh
    Josh
    14 years ago

    My guess is that we won’t be seeing a drop in prices on the retail side in the near future.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    yes, i dont think we will see a drop in prices anymore….seems like someone will be pocketing a bigger profit…LOL, so in other words, this doesnt really affect us AT ALL

    Dvorah
    Dvorah
    14 years ago

    Lo Midofshicha Ve lo Meuktxsifa. Who knows what he expects in return. Yeursalyem Maybe?

    A person
    A person
    14 years ago

    I think you guys are right. Is this corperate greed again or the price of emek chees will go down?

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Does anyone really want to be purchasing “fresh” cholov yisroel from eretz yisroel with or without the tariff added to the price. It would be safer to import the cows than drink milk products. I can understand cheese products but not fresh milk.