Mexico will rescind its import ban on genetically engineered corn but plans to codify curbs prohibiting domestic production of GE corn, President Claudia Sheinbaum said after a dispute resolution panel ruled Friday that the import restrictions violate the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
The three-person USMCA panel found that Mexico’s ban on genetically modified corn imports – ostensibly for public health reasons – is not rooted in science and represents a disguised effort to limit U.S. corn exports to the country. Mexico has 45 days from the ruling to bring its policies into compliance with its USMCA commitments before the U.S. can impose retaliatory tariffs.
“[W]e are going to reverse this resolution,” Sheinbaum said of the decree enacting the import ban during a public event on Saturday, according to an unofficial translation of her remarks, “because very soon, in February [in the next session], they are going to legislate.”
Mexico’s 2023 decree banning GE corn in dough and tortillas and phasing out its use in animal feed and industry was the latest move in a string of executive and judicial actions to limit the adoption of GE crops. The government has long argued the measures are necessary to protect native corn species and public health.
Sheinbaum has previously expressed an interest in codifying restrictions on GE corn through Mexico’s legislature. She said this week that the country’s Congress could consider a ban on domestic planting of GE corn early in 2025.
“I am sure that transgenic corn cannot be planted and that Mexico's biodiversity must be protected in our country,” Sheinbaum said on Saturday. “As we say: Without corn, there is no country!”
The Mexican government has in recent days been careful to point out that the country will comply with the USMCA dispute panel ruling, even as it voices its disagreement with the panel's findings. In a statement following the ruling on Friday, the country’s ministries of economy and agriculture said Mexico would “respect the panel’s determination.”
The ruling, the two ministries stressed in a second statement issued Friday, “refers exclusively” to U.S.-Mexico trade. Accordingly, any statutory ban on the domestic planting of GE corn which leaves corn imports untouched would be compatible with the country’s USMCA commitments.
Sheinbaum also touted the agreement’s merits in her public comments over the weekend, highlighting its success in boosting cross-border trade and economic integration, according to a summary published by the Mexican government.
The deal is up for review in 2026, and analysts predict that market access and barriers to U.S. agricultural trade could feature prominently in discussions between U.S. officials and their Canadian and Mexican counterparts.
Republican lawmakers involved in U.S. trade policy discussions are also eying President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the presidency as an opportunity to press Mexico further on the corn dispute and other issues for U.S. producers.
“I will work closely with the Trump Administration to make sure Mexico pays a steep price if it does not promptly come into compliance with USMCA rules,” House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith, R-Mo., said in a statement, adding that the next president could take “more speedy and decisive action” through the USMCA to address trade barriers.
Similarly, Adrian Smith, R-Neb., who heads the Ways and Means trade subcommittee, told Agri-Pulse in a statement, “With the USMCA review coming in 2026, it is essential the U.S. continues to stand up for American industry and hold our trade partners to their commitments.”
“I urge President Sheinbaum to swiftly comply with the findings of the panel and ensure fair market access for American corn growers," the Nebraskan added.
