Ahead of a visit by Mexican government leaders, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Thursday that the Biden administration was ready to challenge Mexico under North American trade rules unless it “rectifies” a presidential decree that would ban imports of genetically modified corn at the start of 2024. “We have deep concerns” about the decree, which could violate the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, he said.
Two dozen farm-state senators, including the second-ranking Senate Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois, urged U.S. trade representative Katherine Tai in a letter to “pursue any necessary dispute resolution mechanism” available under the USMCA. They pointed to an estimate that a ban on GMO corn would shut down 83 percent of U.S. corn sales to Mexico, one of the top customers for the crop.
Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard was to lead a Mexican delegation for meetings on GMO corn and other bilateral issues in Washington on Friday. Vilsack, who aired the U.S. objections during a trip to Mexico on Nov. 28, told reporters he would take part in the new round of discussions.
After internal discussions, Mexico was expected to come to Washington with “a proposal that rectifies” U.S. concerns, said Vilsack. A resolution would benefit both countries, he said, by maintaining U.S. export flows and assuring Mexico of affordably priced feed for its livestock.
The corn decree by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is not based on science, in the U.S. view, and could violate the USMCA, said Vilsack, who spoke to López Obrador during his November trip to Mexico City.
“I was clear … that if the proposal doesn’t meet what we think is consistent with the science and what we think is consistent with the USMCA, that we absolutely will continue to work with the U.S. trade representative’s office to begin the process of triggering whatever needs to be triggered under the USMCA,” said the agriculture secretary.
Mexico is the largest U.S. trade partner in food and agriculture products, forecast to account for nearly one-fifth of imports and exports — $74.9 billion — in the sector this year. Canada would be second, with $65.6 billion of the combined $389 billion in U.S. food and agriculture exports and imports.
The lion’s share of U.S. corn is grown from genetically modified seeds. Most of the corn imported by Mexico is fed to livestock.
Corn is a lightning-rod issue in Mexico, where tortillas are an everyday food. Scientists believe people living in what is now central Mexico developed corn 9,000 years ago from a wild grass called teosinte.