US senators ask to initiate controversy in the T-MEC on transgenic corn

US Senators Chuck Grassley y Joni K. Ernst They asked the government of their country to initiate the dispute resolution process within the framework of the Treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada (T-MEC) due to restrictions by the Mexican Government on the use of transgenic corn.

On December 31, 2020, Mexico published a decree in the Official Journal of the Federation (DOF) in which the progressive elimination of the use of the glyphosate and the transgenic corn for human consumption in Mexico.

Currently, Mexico imports around 40% of its total needs for corn. According to that decree, the transgenic corn for human consumption will be eliminated no later than January 31, 2024.

In a letter sent this Monday, both senators asked Katherine Taitrade representative of the White House, that the United States initiate a process of consultations with Mexico to address this matter.

“We are writing to express our concern about President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s promise to ban imports of biotech corn into Mexico by 2024. This promise directly contradicts previous promises made by the Mexican government to the United States, contained in T -MEC”.

Iowa It is the leading state in corn production, with a crop of 2,500 million bushels a year.

Iowa growers export 16 million tons, or 630 million bushels, of corn to Mexico each year.

Any disruption to these shipments will severely affect our farmers and the state’s economy, and will have dire economic consequences for the entire Corn Belt,” Grassley and Ernst said.

According to them, President Obrador’s decree is not only a failure for US farmers, but also impossible to implement.

Since 92% of the corn grown in the United States is GMO, the senators argued that even assuming non-GMO seeds could be obtained, farmers in Iowa and across the United States are already asking for bags of seeds for spring 2023 planting.

“Seeds purchased this fall will continue to be in grain distribution channels until 2025. Most of that corn is, and will continue to be, biotech corn that allows us to conserve soil and reduce inputs,” they added.

A study by World Perspectives, Inc. found that over a “10-year forecast period, the Mexican ban on transgenic corn would make the american economy lose 73.890 million dollars in economic production, and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would contract by 30.550 million dollars”.

In the first year of Mexico’s ban, US corn growers and industrial partners would suffer losses of $3.56 billion, followed by a loss of $5.56 billion in the second year. This economic downturn would also cause the loss of 32,000 jobs in the United States.

roberto.morales@eleconomista.mx

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