Most of our members sell locally or regionally, and a tariff line thousands of miles from their cave doesn't usually make it into a Monday morning conversation. This month it has. A tariff on U.S. cheese moving into one of our largest export markets is set to increase again in early July, and the members who do sell across that border have been calling to ask what it means for them.
A little background, kept plain: cheese exports to that market currently carry a mid-teens tariff, and the schedule calls for that rate to climb further next month. For a large processor shipping truckloads of block cheddar, that's a spreadsheet problem their trade counsel is already working. For a member selling a few pallets a quarter to a specialty importer, it's a smaller number, but it lands the same way, as a margin that gets thinner right as the invoice is due.
What we're hearing from members who export
The members who told us they're watching this fall into two groups. The first ships finished product directly, usually through a distributor who handles the customs paperwork. For them, the tariff increase shows up as a renegotiation: either the price to the buyer goes up, or the margin on that order comes down, and most are bracing for some of both.
The second group is smaller and less obvious: creameries that don't export directly but sell into a domestic supply chain that does. If your buyer's buyer ships internationally, a tariff increase on the far end of that chain can still show up as a slower order or a harder price conversation, even though your invoice never crosses a border. A few members told us this was the harder case to plan for, because it doesn't show up until the order does.
Neither group should expect this column to tell them what to charge. We're not in a position to give trade or pricing advice, and a tariff schedule can still change between now and the date it's set to take effect. What we can do is point members toward the resources built for exactly this question.
Where to take this
If your business exports, or sells to someone who does, the place to start is with a trade attorney or customs broker who works in the market you're shipping into — general guidance from us can't substitute for advice specific to your product classification and destination. If you want a broader read on how the tariff situation is affecting cheese exporters generally, the federation's advocacy program tracks trade developments that touch the dairy sector and can point you to the public comment periods and coalition letters where member voices are being gathered.
For members without direct export exposure, the useful move this month is simpler: ask your buyers, directly, whether anything in their supply chain touches this tariff line. A few minutes on the phone now is easier than a surprised conversation about pricing in August.
We'll keep watching this and will flag it again if the schedule shifts before it takes effect.
The International Cheese Federation (ICF) and More Cheese are entirely fictional. This post is demonstration content created for MemberJunction. All people, organizations, events, courses, certifications, figures, and quotations in it are invented, and nothing here represents a real association, a real business, a real person, or real professional advice.