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After President Biden met with his counterparts in Mexico and Canada, Secretary Tom Vilsack indicated that there would be no compromise on Mexico’s proposal to ban biotech corn. The secretary’s statement came as Biden met with Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The National Corn Growers Association weighed in on the developments.
“We appreciate Secretary Vilsack for taking a firm stand on this issue,” said Tom Haag, NCGA president. “We would encourage the Biden administration to keep this issue front and center and push for a quick resolution, as farmers have already made their purchasing decisions for the 2023 crop year. We also continue to urge the Biden administration to file a dispute under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.”
Talks between the two countries started in the fall of last year, as NCGA and state corn grower groups encouraged the Biden administration to act to prevent López Obrador from moving forward with a promise to ban shipments of biotech corn beginning in early 2024.
In December, Haag, along with the presidents of 23 state corn grower groups, sent a letter to President Biden calling for him to take additional steps to address the pending decree by Mexico that would block imports of biotech corn.
Mexico is a major purchaser of U.S. corn, and 90% of corn grown in this country is biotech corn. NCGA has argued that the decree is a violation of USMCA.
