Reuters’ Karen Braun reported last week that “the United States has been losing corn export business to Brazil as the South American country continues expanding its output, though top customer Mexico has secured a record volume of U.S. corn for shipment this year.”
“That is despite an active dispute between the United States and Mexico over Mexico’s proposal to curb genetically modified (GM) corn imports, which if enforced to the most radical extent could severely dent U.S. corn exports,” Braun reported.
The Dispute The corn dispute between the United States and Mexico began in February 2023, when “Mexico published a presidential decree that includes an immediate prohibition on the use of biotech corn in Mexico’s dough and tortilla production,” the USDA Foreign Ag Service reported. That is problematic for the United States, which exported to Mexico “corn totaling $4.792 billion in 2022 (USDA/FAS, 2021), with about 17 million metric tons of yellow corn crossing the border annually,” according to farmdoc daily‘s Ian Sheldon, Seungki Lee, and Chris Zoller.
At that time, the United States said that “Mexico’s decree banning imports of GM corn used for tortillas is not based on science and violates its commitments under the USMCA, which has been in place since 2020,” Barrera reported. “Mexico’s policy, however, is based on science and what the U.S. says has ‘no foundation,’ (Mexican economy minister, Raquel) Buenrostro said.”
Current Exports While the dispute could affect future corn exports to Mexico, trade remains strong in 2023-24 and U.S. farmers have not seen much of an impact from the situation, Braun reported.
“As of Jan. 18, a record 15.3 million metric tons of U.S. corn were on the books for shipment to Mexico in 2023-24, some 20% more than the date’s previous high set two years ago,” Braun reported.
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Categories: Illinois, Crops, Corn