U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE) and U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) successfully forced the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to engage with Mexico to dispute the country’s ban on genetically modified corn.
“After continued pressure from me and my colleagues, I’m glad to see USTR is finally working to address Mexico’s absurd and baseless biotech corn ban,” Sen. Ernst said on Monday. “As the top corn-producers in the country, Iowa farmers have been anxiously awaiting this announcement.”
“While this is welcome news, it should have happened sooner,” Rep. Smith said. “Nonetheless, this is an important step toward formal dispute consultations.”
The lawmakers think that Mexico’s decision violates the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and would stifle the market for America’s corn growers, which export 16 million tons of corn to Mexico each year.
USTR Katherine Tai recently took the first step toward invoking the USMCA’s dispute settlement mechanism to challenge Mexico’s ban on U.S. grown corn and other American-made agriculture products, and announced the USTR’s intent to formally request technical consultations on Mexico’s decree on biotech corn pursuant to the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Chapter of the USMCA.
“The U.S. must hold Mexico accountable to their science-based commitment under the USMCA and defend the livelihoods of hard-working Iowans,” said Sen. Ernst.
“We must hold our trading partners to their commitments and lead from a position of strength,” Rep. Smith added. “I hope this is an inflection point for the administration and marks movement toward a more aggressive and proactive trade agenda across the board.”