The Biden administration plans to escalate its conflict with Mexico over genetically modified US corn with a request for formal consultations under their free-trade agreement, people familiar with the matter said.
(Bloomberg) — The Biden administration plans to escalate its conflict with Mexico over genetically modified US corn with a request for formal consultations under their free-trade agreement, people familiar with the matter said.
The request could come as soon as Monday, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because they didn’t have permission to speak publicly.
A spokesman for the US Trade Representative’s office declined to comment.
The Mexican government has moved to limit imports and use of US GMO corn, saying that it could pose a danger to the health of the nation’s citizens. The US counters that Mexico’s concern aren’t based in science.
US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack last month rebuffed a concession by Mexico in the simmering trade dispute, saying he was “disappointed” by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s decree that would press forward with a prohibition on GMO corn for human consumption, while scrapping a deadline to halt imports of GMO corn for livestock feed.
The Mexican government’s efforts to block imports of US GMO corn have become one of the biggest trade irritants between Mexico and its northern neighbor. Mexico is the US’s second-largest export market and the issue has mobilized President Joe Biden’s administration, as well as elected representatives in key corn-growing states including Iowa Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst.
At the end of last month Mexico’s economy ministry, said that the US’s disagreement with its decree regulating GMO corn “lacks trade fundamentals” and has a political motivation. The ministry’s statement followed a meeting between Economy Minister Raquel Buenrostro and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai.
The USTR responded that the concerns aren’t politically motivated. Mexico’s policies threaten to disrupt billions of dollars in agricultural trade, causing serious economic harm to US farmers and Mexican livestock producers, a USTR spokesman said. They could also stifle innovation that’s needed to respond to urgent climate and food security challenges, according to the spokesman.
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