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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Sunday, September 01, 2024
The Biden administration is demanding that Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador scientifically justify his decree that would ban genetically modified corn and the popular herbicide, glyphosate.
When Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador first unveiled a decree two years ago to ban genetically modified corn and effectively shut out most U.S. exports, Trump administration officials asked themselves the obvious question: Is he really serious about this?
If India can keep on track for using more and more ethanol in gasoline, the country could well blend its way into needing U.S. imports, opening up major new trading opportunities with the second-most populous nation in the world.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack personally warned Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador against banning genetically modified corn and later said the Biden administration expects to receive a proposal soon from Mexico on how to “engage in dialogue assuring the safety of biotechnology products.”
The U.S. corn sector has been adamant that it cannot easily or quickly shift to producing non-GMO corn to comply with an upcoming Mexican ban, but Brazilian and Argentine farmers are also telling Mexico that it’s mistaken if it thinks it can rely on them to make up for the coming loss of U.S. supplies.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Friday dismissed a dire forecast of Mexico slashing corn imports from the U.S. because of a scheduled Mexican ban on genetically modified corn.
Mexico has not publicly ruled on genetically modified plant traits in the four years since President Andrés Manuel López Obrador took power, but the country’s health regulator Cofepris has been quietly approving and rejecting traits with an apparent bias against glyphosate-resistant corn seeds, according to U.S. government and industry sources.
The U.S. International Trade Commission ruled Monday that imports of urea ammonium nitrate fertilizer from Russia and Trinidad and Tobago are not harming U.S. producers of the product, ending the threat of stiff duties on imports and evoking relief from U.S. growers.