A LOT of anger has been expressed over the past week from virtually everyone in an official capacity associated with dairy and trade.
The anger and disappointment is totally justified. But we shouldn't be surprised the US Government has resorted to the use of its dairy export subsidies.
Maybe too much faith has been placed in the belief Barack Obama will save the world from a large number of ailments.
We're being overly hopeful and naive to ignore the reality of the Obama administration's intentions when it comes to what we might call "promoting free trade".
With the depressed US economy likely to stay in the toilet for a while yet, and efforts to repair the perception of the US global citizenship on foreign policy and environmental issues, the inbox for the new team is overloaded, and many hopes will be left vanquished .
Free trade (or even fairer trade, which would be a start) is not among the 29 priority issues listed on the White House website www.whitehouse.gov
And in a time of global financial and economic crisis, protectionist sentiments in the US - as in many major developed and developing economies - are running high.
Newly-appointed US Trade Secretary Ron Kirk's agenda is only partly defined.
Kirk talks up a push for a revival of the global Doha round of trade talks, but there are grave doubts of its prospects in the current economic turmoil.
Americans are dubious about expanding trade deals, one of the issues which soured them over the years of the Bush era as products of China and other low-cost exporters filled the shelves of Wal-Mart and Costco and ate away at manufacturing jobs.
They resoundingly elected a Democratic regime with a strong social platform, part of which is protecting jobs - including those on farms.
At the same time though, they don't want the consumer to pay too much for basics, which brings the inevitable conflict about the cost of goods in US stores.
If cheaper imports bring down the price of products, they could be better for US households, but will also cost jobs while the structure of the economy adjusts.
While the US farm sector is reeling from turmoil, the exposure for major sectors is patchy. Grain is doing OK and dodgy weather and the ongoing biofuels mandate has kept prices firm.
Beef has suffered with the lack of export access to premium markets and a dip in hamburger sales, but dairy wears the pointy end. Just as a lot of our producers are feeling, cash milk prices for many US dairy operators are below bought-in feed costs.
The US has turned to its export subsidies as one available device to address the imbalance between demand and supply that causes milk, cheese and butter prices to go through huge cycles.
After all, the Europeans cranked theirs up in the first place. Product prices within the US internal market are low, not because of the world market but because household demand has slowed and milk supply from farms is slow to respond.
But with over-supply clearly the problem, other revived subsidies actual pay farmers to help them stay in business.
US agri-political farmers care little for the world market despite its growing importance to US manufacturers. Yet this step will ensure a critical market to our exporters remains sluggish for longer.
