Mexico is the largest customer for U.S. corn exports, and with negotiations under way for a new NAFTA there is “a grassroots and political push” in Mexico for larger domestic farm production, says Cronkite News. The initiative is partly a response to President Trump’s anti-NAFTA and anti-Mexico statements and partly a desire for more self-reliance.
Mexican Sen. Armando Rios Piter filed a bill to end imports of U.S. corn in favor of grain from Brazil and Argentina, as well as reinvesting in domestic production. “His bill was eventually hung up in committee but experts suggest that the push to ‘reclaim’ corn could be a powerful one,” says Cronkite News. Corn is believed to originate as a crop in central Mexico thousands of years ago. The United States is the world’s largest corn grower, with exports to Mexico that dwarf the small quantities that Mexico ships to its northern neighbor.
Cronkite News says activists in Arizona came up with the idea of a boycott of U.S. corn as a way to fight Trump’s anti-immigrant policies. In Mexico, the sponsor of the boycott legislation is running for president in this year’s elections. “In addition, the idea of playing the ‘corn card’ has been thrown around as a potential bargaining chip in impending NAFTA trade talks, while the concept of reinvestment in the domestic agriculture industry has generated increasing focus in Mexico.”