Source: United States Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined Senators Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) in sending a bipartisan letter to the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) expressing concern over Mexico’s efforts to ban importation of genetically engineered (GE) corn. Mexican President Lopez Obrador issued a decree in 2020 to phase out GE corn by 2024, an order unsupported by science and threatens to run the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) afoul.
“These actions are unsupported by science and a breach of USMCA. It would be detrimental to food security in Mexico, hurt U.S. agricultural sustainability, and stifle future agricultural technology innovations that would benefit both nations. While we appreciate the efforts of USTR and USDA to resolve this issue by engaging with Mexican officials, we also encourage the administration to consider all options available in an effort to hold Mexico to their trade commitments including pursuing a dispute settlement process through USMCA,” wrote the senators.
Over 90 percent of all corn acreage in the United States is planted with genetically engineered seeds. Last year alone, the United States exported 16.8 million metric tons of corn to Mexico.
Joining Senator Cramer, Fischer, and Duckworth are Senators John Boozman (R-AR), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Gary Peters (D-MI), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), John Barrasso (R-WY), Michael Rounds (R-SD), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Mike Braun (R-IN), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Tim Scott (R-SC), John Hoeven (R-ND), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Todd Young (R-IN), John Thune (R-SD), and Rob Portman (R-OH).
Click here to read the letter.