Mexico's Upcoming Import Ban on Genetically Modified Corn
Tim Hammerich
News Reporter
Nearly two years ago, Mexico announced that by 2024, they would ban U.S. corn imports if it’s genetically modified or grown using glyphosate. Farm Bureau’s Dave Salmonsen says officials are unsure what the decree applies to specifically.
Salmonsen… “There’s a little confusion there because were they saying is it all corn? Is it white corn to make their tortillas for food products? Is it all yellow corn? That's never, as least to our satisfaction, been really explained. So, we're concerned it could affect all corn.”
He added that the issues between the U.S. and Mexico extend beyond corn imports and exports.
Salmonsen… “They’re also not doing approvals of biotech products. That's restricting our ability for their companies to release those products for use here, because then you wouldn’t have any export market. These are concerns that our government and the Mexican government are trying to talk to about it. They’re trying to work that out.”
Mexico has been a huge ag trading partner going back to when the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) started in 1994. That trade agreement was replaced with the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) in 2020.
Salmonsen… “We don’t have tariffs going into Mexico, but we still have some standards issues, which can be thorny – and especially these decrees from this current Mexican government, so whether it's under the USMCA or outside of it, this has to get resolved.”
According to the USDA, Mexico is expected to import 17.7 million metric tons of U.S. corn in 2022-23.
